Fifty Shades of Grey is about to get doused with some cold water. After lighting the box office on fire over Valentine’s Day weekend and President’s Day, the movie is expected to take a steep fall in its second weekend. It has three big challengers this weekend to ward off.
Fifty Shades finished last weekend with $93 million, scoring the biggest February opening ever. It made well over $240 million internationally.
However, like most front-loaded, highly anticipated movies, there’s a good chance that anyone who desperately needed to see it has already done so. That means that it will take a huge drop in weekend two. If it falls around 60 percent, it will probably wind up with $34 million, notes Entertainment Weekly.
It’s also possible that the No. 2 and 3 movies of last weekend hold onto their slots. Kingsman: The Secret Service could hold on for another weekend, especially after strong critical reviews and word-of-mouth. A $20 million second weekend should be enough to keep it in the second slot. The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water will likely make around the same.
American Sniper could experience a late bump thanks to its Oscar nominations this weekend.
The three new movies of the weekend will vie for the fifth slot. Box Office Mojo predicts that Hot Tub Time Machine 2 will debut with just under $10 million. It arrives nearly five years after the 2010 original, which at least had John Cusack. He’s not in the new one and his replacement - Parks and Recreation’s Adam Scott - isn’t exactly a big name.
Disney is back with another low budget sports movie, this time starring Kevin Costner. McFarland, USA is also going to struggle to reach $10 million.
The last new movie is The Duff, which has earned some strong reviews and is likely to pull in some younger moviegoers. It will probably make around $8 million.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com