Box Office: ‘Fifty Shades’ Drops 71%, New Titles Flop

Without a doubt “Fifty Shades of Grey” is a box office hit. There is also no question, though, its success was front-loaded and that the C+ CinemaScore (which is pretty awful) audiences gave the S&M love story has hurt repeat business. “Fifty Shades” was expected to drop in week two, but this weekend’s 71% plummet still came as a surprise.

According to Deadline, thanks to a new haul of $25 million, after 10 days of release “Fifty Shades” will sit at $133 million by Monday morning. And that was enough to keep it at number one.

Originally conceived as a trilogy, there’s little doubt Universal will bring us another “Fifty Shades” chapter. Hopefully, though, they will learn from their mistakes and next time make a better, less icky movie.

In its second weekend, the openly conservative action/thriller/comedy “Kingsman” held pretty well with only a -50% drop. Despite new competition from “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” and Kevin Costner’s “McFarland USA,” the James Bond/Harry Palmer spoof held on to second place with a $16 million take. That brings the total to $66 million.

Costner’s “McFarland USA” came in 5th with a just-okay $11 million.

The sequel no one in the world asked for, “Hot Tub Time Machine 2,” came in 7th with just a $7 million debut.

“American Sniper” grabbed another $9 million and now sits at an incredible $318 million. This puts it a mere $15 million away from “Guardians of the Galaxy” ($333 million) and $18 million from “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” ($336 million). Eastwood’s masterpiece is almost certain to surpass both, which will make it the top-grossing film released in 2014. 

John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC