This President’s and Valentine’s Day weekend, Fifty Shades of Grey is expected to capture the full attention of many moviegoers, especially the female audience. Based on the E.L. James phenomenon of a bestseller, Sam Taylor-Johnson directs the film adaptation with relative unknown actors Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey. With its well known source material, this erotic drama should whip all competitors and clamp down on the #1 spot. The figure of over $50 million out of the gate are probably safe words for how this will perform.
Universal Pictures is shrewdly releasing the project on Valentine’s weekend and there are already two sequels reportedly in the works. While Shades is unlikely to approach the all time February opening of The Passion of the Christ at $83 million, it could flirt with the $69 million #2 of the month opening that was last year’s LEGO Movie. It might not quite get there, but it should surpass Hannibal’s $58 million debut to overtake the number three record domestic haul for February.
I’ll predict Fifty Shades of Grey gets off to a very healthy start with its legions of mostly female fans. It may not hold up too well in subsequent weekends, but with its smallish $40 million budget, it won’t matter much.
Fifty Shades of Grey opening weekend prediction: $63.1 million
For my Kingsman: The Secret Service prediction, click here:
https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/02/07/kingsman-the-secret-service-box-office-prediction/
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