‘Fifty Shades’ Breaks a Billion at the Box Office After ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ Opening Weekend

Fifty Shades Freed proved there is still some juice in the franchise by topping the box office this weekend with $136.0 million worldwide. That also means the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy has hit $1 billion globally.

According to comScore, Freed took in $38.8 million domestically. While that is far from the $85.1 million opening Fifty Shades of Grey recorded in 2015, it is not too far off from last year’s Fifty Shades Darker. That film opened with $46.6 million. All three films starred Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey.

Outside of the U.S. and Canada, Freed took in $98.1 million.

It is surprising that Freed held on so well, considering the popularity of E.L. James novels has cooled off since 2015. But for Universal, it’s good news, as the studio still considers it one of its top properties.

“We take great pride providing films for distinct audiences,” Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution, told The Hollywood Reporter. “We played evenly across America and over-indexed in a lot of Midwestern markets where you wouldn’t think an R-rated, adult title wouldn’t play.”

If BDSM was not your cup of tea, there were still plenty of options at the box office. The new family movie Peter Rabbit, based on the Beatrix Potter stories, took in $25 million domestically, which was good enough for the No. 2 slot.

Clint Eastwood‘s The 15:17 to Paris took in $12.6 million, and its numbers were likely hurt by bad reviews and poor word of mouth from audiences. The film tells the true story of three Americans who stopped a terrorist attack on a train in Europe. Eastwood decided to cast the real-life heroes in his film.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle added another $9.8 million, bringing its domestic total to $365.6 million. The Greatest Showman, another Christmas 2017 release that will not die, rounded out the top five with $6.4 million. The Hugh Jackman musical has quietly grossed $146.5 million domestically.

Only two Best Picture Oscar nominees were in the Top 10 this weekend. Steven Spielberg’s The Post came in eighth with $3.5 million, bringing its total to $72.8 million. Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water came in ninth with $3 million. It now stands at $49.7 million domestically.

Photo credit: Universal Pictures