Controversy can lead to the demise or the rise of many films, good and bad alike. For the highly anticipated (but critically panned) Fifty Shades of Grey, the controversy was enough to make Presidents’ Day Weekend a profitable one, earning an estimated $81.7 million here and nearly $240 million worldwide, making the $40 million production a runaway success. It won out over the much better reviewed Kingsman: The Secret Service, which opened to an estimated $35.6 million and far below its production costs, but whether the spy parody can pick up the slack in later weeks remains up in the air. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water opened its second week with an estimated $30.5 million, and will likely break $100 million by the next weekend.
Speaking of revealed budgets, Paddington revealed its costs, and signs are good; while an estimated $4.2 weekend led to a mild $62.3 million in domestic earnings over a $55 million budget, it made $215.6 million worldwide. However, The Imitation Game is still hiding its numbers, but with an estimated $3.5 million weekend, $156.6 million in worldwide gross, and a budget likely less than that of fellow Weinstein Company production Paddington, it too is likely doing quite well for itself. At the bottom, The Wedding Ringer proved a success, an estimated $3.4 million bringing its grand total to $59.7 million over $23 million in costs, while Project Almanac, with only an estimated $2.7 million, has not even broken $20 million in domestic revenue, not boding well for the troubled production.
Weekend Box Office (February 13th – February 15th)
- Fifty Shades of Grey…$81.7 million
- Kingsman: The Secret Service…$35.6 million
- The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water…$30.5 million
- American Sniper…$16.4 million
- Jupiter Ascending…$9.4 million
- Seventh Son…$4.2 million
- Paddington…$4.2 million
- The Imitation Game…$3.5 million
- The Wedding Ringer…$3.4 million
- Project Almanac…$2.7 million
Seth Paul
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