After months of hype, waiting and deliberation, Fifty Shades of Grey has officially broken the February record for biggest debut, ever.
The erotic book turned movie drama brought in $85 million domestically over the three-day weekend, Variety reported, which is higher than the $81.7 million estimate that Universal Pictures suggested the film initially grossed. The film beat out Mel Gibson's $83.3 million premiere of Passion of the Christ in 2004, making it the biggest February opening in history.
The film is a huge success for Universal as it only took $40 million to produce and is looking to make a ton more money this upcoming weekend, Just Jared reported.
However, the studio over-predicted the four-day Presidents Weekend outcome, predicting $94.4 million to an actual $93 million.
Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson's raunchy on-screen sexual escapades earned $266.6 million worldwide, beating out the studio's $266.4 million projection, Variety reported.
Analysts believe the movie could reach $500 million globally given its already incredible success.
“This kind of performance is usually reserved for superhero movies and animation franchises,” said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. “[‘Fifty Shades’] joins that club,”Variety also reported.
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