LOS ANGELES 鈥� Newcomers like 鈥淔ifty Shades Freed,鈥� 鈥漃eter Rabbit鈥� and 鈥漈he 15:17 to Paris鈥� breathed some fresh life into a marketplace that has for weeks been dominated by 鈥滼umanji: Welcome to the Jungle,鈥� 鈥漈he Greatest Showman鈥� and various Oscar contenders. But it鈥檚 all just setting the stage for 鈥滲lack Panther,鈥� which opens next week.
鈥淔ifty Shades Freed鈥漨anaged to take the top spot on the charts in North American theatres. Universal Pictures estimated Sunday that the final chapter in the Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele saga earned $38.8 million over the weekend 鈥� down significantly from the first film鈥檚 $85.2 million debut and even the sequel鈥檚 $46.6 million opening, but enough to bump the three-film franchise over $1 billion globally. Women once again made up the vast majority (75 per cent) of the opening weekend audience.
鈥淲e are exhilarated with the results,鈥� said Jim Orr, Universal鈥檚 president of domestic distribution. 鈥淭o have a trilogy engineered primarily for a female audience that we were then able to broaden out into a billion-dollar franchise is just a fantastic result.鈥�
The studio expects a healthy mid-week bump on Valentine鈥檚 Day and to serve as counter-programming over the holiday weekend against 鈥淏lack Panther.鈥�
The steamy romance outdid other new competitors like Sony鈥檚 CG and live-action update of 鈥淧eter Rabbit,鈥� featuring the voice of James Corden, and Clint Eastwood鈥檚 鈥淭he 15:17 to Paris,鈥� starring the real men who thwarted an attack on a Paris-bound train in the summer of 2015.
鈥淧eter Rabbit,鈥� which cost around $50 million to produce, hopped to second place with a solid $25 million and an A- CinemaScore.
鈥淭he 15:17 to Paris鈥� pulled into third place with $12.6 million. Eastwood鈥檚 dramatic thriller about the true story was not well-received by critics or audiences, who gave the film a poor B- CinemaScore.
Two films that just won鈥檛 quit rounded out the top five: 鈥淛umanji: Welcome to the Jungle鈥� fell to fourth place with $9.8 million and 鈥淭he Greatest Showman鈥� took fifth with $6.4 million.
Overall the marketplace is still down around 1.8 per cent for the year and around 27 per cent from the same weekend last year which, comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian notes, saw the launch of 鈥淭he Lego Batman Movie,鈥� 鈥滷ifty Shades Darker鈥� and 鈥滼ohn Wick: Chapter 2,鈥� all of which opened over $30 million.
But the box office will pick up next weekend with 鈥淏lack Panther,鈥� which some analysts are pegging for a $150 million start.
鈥淭his is the calm before the Marvel storm,鈥� Dergarabedian said. 鈥溾�橞lack Panther鈥� is going to supercharge this marketplace when it opens later this week. I think it鈥檚 going to break records and spark a huge conversation.鈥�
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to comScore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淔ifty Shades Freed,鈥� $38.8 million.
2. 鈥淧eter Rabbit,鈥� $25 million.
3. 鈥淭he 15:17 to Paris,鈥� $12.6 million.
4. 鈥淛umanji: Welcome to the Jungle,鈥� $9.8 million.
5. 鈥淭he Greatest Showman,鈥� $6.4 million.
6. 鈥淢aze Runner: The Death Cure,鈥� $6 million.
7. 鈥淲inchester,鈥� $5.1 million.
8. 鈥淭he Post,鈥� $3.5 million.
9. 鈥淭he Shape of Water,鈥� $3 million.
10. 鈥淒en of Thieves,鈥�$2.9 million.
