Fifty Shades of Grey managed to whip up $81.6M in its opening weekend, after arousing $30M from audiences during Friday night alone. Given that the novel, which began life as Twilight fan-fiction (explains a lot!!), sold more than 100 Million copies worldwide it had a pretty good shot at being a global smash. And it turns out it was with $158M internationally for a worldwide haul of $239M. Believe it or not, this wasn't always going to be a sure thing despite the book's millions of rabid fans. For one thing, there have been tons of questions about the sexual content and whether it would be steamy enough for fans, or if it would be too steamy and possibly earn an NC-17 rating. So that was a delicate balance for director Sam Taylor-Johnson and Universal Pictures to walk. But they did a good job of turning this into a major R-rated event film and presale ticket purchases broke practically every known record. The result is a critic-proof movie that also serves as the beginning of a potentially lucrative franchise, even if stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan have no chemistry and can't stand the sight of one another. Apparently the same goes for author EL James and the director, but an opening weekend like this smooths over a lot of arguments.
2. Kingsman: The Secret Service- $35.6M
Sometimes the comic book fanboy crowd comes through in the clutch. For the longest time the only people who seemed to be excited about Kingsman: The Secret Service, an amped up spy film from the writer of Wanted and Kick-Ass, were the geeks who pumped it up at Comic-Con. But they turned out and helped the film weather the Fifty Shades of Grey onslaught with a solid $35M opening. The film stars Colin Firth as a secret agent who trains a youngster while battling a terrorist played by Samuel L. Jackson, and it's genuinely fun stuff but the kind that easily could have fallen between the cracks. Sorta like what happened with Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2.
3. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water- $30.5M/$93.6M
4. American Sniper- $16.4M/$304.1M
5. Jupiter Ascending- $9.4M/$32.5M
6. Seventh Son- $4.153M/$13.4M
7. Paddington- $4.15M/$62.3M
8. The Imitation Game- $3.5M/$79.6M
9. The Wedding Ringer- $3.4M/$59.7M
10. Project Almanac- $2.7M/$19.5M
