Dakota Johnson (L) and Jamie Dornan (R) (Photo : REUTERS-Universal Studios)
Over the long Presidents Day weekend, "Fifty Shades of Grey" had a gigantic box office result, earning $90.7 million throughout North America. The risqué film that is comprised of one-fifth sex scenes, was based on the E.L. James romance novel with the same name.
It was released by the Universal-Focus company, and shares the story of Anastasia Steele played by Dakota Johnson and Christian Grey played by Jamie Dornan. Anastasia is a higher education graduate who starts an S&M relationship with young business entrepreneur Christian.
The film's U.S. receipts of $81.7 million during the three-day weekend make it the second ranked movie premiere in February, according to Yahoo. The only film that has topped it was "The Passion of the Christ" (2004), which earned $83.8 million.
In a distant second place for the three-day weekend was "Kingsman: The Secret Service," earning $35.6 million. The number three movie, the animated "SpongeBob" sequel, soaked up $30.5 million in sales.
It is ironic that "Fifty Shades" beat the former top-grossing premiering film for Valentine's Day, which was "Valentine's Day" (2010)." The latter earned $63.1 million at the box office.
The largest audience group who watched "Fifty Shades" was easily females. However, numerous couples also decided to watch the movie during Hearts Day.
The figures for "Fifty Shades" were even more incredible abroad, taking in a figure of $158.3 million. Its opening grossed more money than any other R-rated movie.
This is not surprising, considering the worldwide popularity of the books. They have incredibly sold over 100 million copies, and can be bought in in 52 different languages.
Amazingly, "Fifty Shades" has earned $239.7 million worldwide. This figure is six times higher than its reported budget of $40 million, according to IGN.
