Repeating on top, as expected, was Fifty Shades of Grey, but only by default. The almost-NC-17 book-adaptation lost a lot of its audience, down a sizable 73% in its second weekend to $23.2 million. In the process, it became the years' first $100+ million movie. Grey has earned $130.1 million in 10 days, or over 3 times its $40 million budget. With negative reviews and mixed-to-negative word-of-mouth (C+ CinemaScore), it seems likely this will continue to fizzle fast due to most of its audience coming out over Valentine's Day weekend. However, given the (arguably) strong results, Universal is currently putting together an adaptation for the next book, Fifty Shades Darker. Worldwide, the film has been huge too, with over $400 million picked up already, on its way to over $500 million worldwide.
Repeating in second place, Kingsman: The Secret Service arguably held up better than Grey, and was off 52% to $17.5 million. The Matthew Vaughn flick is at a solid $67.1 million gross in 10 days, and should it hold up better in the coming weeks, stands a good chance at finishing over $100 million. Kingsman has also done good business overseas so far, with over $150 million worldwide already picked up.
Sticking in third place, The Spongebob Movie: Sponge out of Water fell another 51% to $15.5 million, for a solid $125.2 million pick-up in 17 days. Spongebob continues to be surprisingly front-loaded for a family movie, though the "B" CinemaScore may emphasize mixed word-of-mouth. Spongebob looks to be on pace for a finish around $160 million, an arguably strong start for a new animation studio.
Narrowly the top new release of the weekend was the second Kevin Costner movie of the year, McFarland, USA. Disney's latest sports drama opened to $11.3 million, for a per-venue average of a moderate $4,107. That is on the high end for Costner's recent movies, ahead of Black or White ($6.5 million) and Draft Day ($9.5 million), and just slightly behind 3 Days to Kill ($12.2 million). McFarland also opened to around the same as Million Dollar Arm ($10.5 million) from last year. Reviews were very solid (77% on Rotten Tomatoes), while audience reception was very positive ("A" CinemaScore). With very little competition for families until fellow Disney movie Cinderella arrives on March 13 (but that will be more for females), look for McFarland to play well over the coming weeks. And with just a $17 million budget, it will wind up a decent financial success.
Estimated just $300,000 below Costner in fifth place was teen comedy The DUFF, which over-performed with $11 million, for a per-venue average of a decent $4,282. Starring former Disney/Nick stars Mae Whitman, Robbie Amell and Bella Thorne, the flick was only expected to pull in around $6-$8 million for the weekend. But thanks to solid marketing and buzz from younger teens, plus surprisingly decent reviews (62% on Rotten Tomatoes), some mainstream moviegoers turned up. For distributor CBS Films (now owned by Lionsgate), this is their 5th-biggest start behind The Woman in Black, Last Vegas, The Back-Up Plan and The Mechanic. With an A- CinemaScore, and just a $9 million budget, this will end up in good financial shape regardless of how it plays from here.
In its seventh weekend of wide release, American Sniper, which has an outside chance at a Best Picture Oscar, fell 41% to $9.7 million. Up for 6 nominations, the Clint Eastwood war blockbuster is at a huge $319.6 million in 37 days, and is on course for a finish close to $350 million. That will be enough to pass The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part I ($337 million) to become 2014's biggest-grossing movie (the movie opened in just 3 theaters on Christmas Day, qualifying it for contention).
The final new release, raunchy comedy sequel Hot Tub Time Machine 2, flopped in seventh place with just $5.8 million, for a per-venue average of an abysmal $2,014. The sequel arrived 5 years after the first movie, which seemed too long. That movie opened to $14 million (which the sequel will struggle to reach by the end of its run), and finished with $50 million. With negative reviews (14% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a C- CinemaScore, this will fade fast. On the positive end, the budget was just $14 million, so overall financial risk should be minimal for distributor Paramount.
Jupiter Ascending plummeted 60% to $3.7 million in its third weekend, for a disappointing $39.7 million gross in 17 days. The Wachowski's latest will finish just ahead of Speed Racer ($43 million), but that's not saying much, considering the budget was a huge $175 million. Up for nine Oscars tonight, The Imitation Game was off just 26% in its ninth weekend of wide release to $2.6 million. The Best Picture nominee is at $83.9 million in 13 weeks since its limited opening. Even if it doesn't win any Oscars, it should still end up close to $90 million.
Rounding out the Top 10 in its sixth weekend is Paddington, which was off 43% to $2.3 million. The Weinstein Company's surprise hit is at a solid $67.7 million in 42 days.
Next weekend, Will Smith returns to theaters with Focus, as does the horror genre with The Lazarus Effect. Both should unseat Grey, but which one will win? Time will tell.
