Fifty Shades Freed roped $96.5M in international box office
the trilogy has now grossed over $1B.
Fifty Shades Freed roped $96.5M in international box office. The climax of Universal’s adaptations of the EL James bestsellers came in ahead of estimates which were straddling $80M-$90M before the weekend. A cherry on top gave the James Foley-directed trilogy-ender a $96.5M bow in 57 offshore markets.
The Fifty Shades movies have consistently done about 70% of their total business overseas and this weekend was no different. The worldwide cume through Sunday is $135.1M and the trilogy has now grossed over $1B.
As noted, that’s a sexy milestone to own given the low production cost of the trio of pics and the lack of some key markets in the mix.
Critics give the Fifty crew a hard time, but audiences who salivated over the books get hot and bothered when a new movie Fifty Shades Freed rolls around. And this time, folks really wanted to see how it all comes together.
Out of 57 offshore launch markets, the James Foley-directed climax was No. 1 in 54. That’s compared to 51 out 57 on the last go-round. In like-for-like markets and at today’s exchange rates, Fifty Shades Freed is 9% down from the start of Fifty Shades Darker last year. Says a rival exec surprised by the overseas numbers.
Although business will be cropped when Black Panther storms the globe this coming week, there’s Valentine’s love ahead and the expectation of a final 2+ multiple.
Fifty Shades Of Grey initiated proceedings in 2015 with a $404.8M final at the international box office, followed by Fifty Shades Darker‘s $266.5M. Freed is currently running about 37% below Grey and 9% below Darker. The original had the benefit of tying directly into a Saturday Valentine.
BDSM play was down in some of the majors, while growing markets like Argentina and Venezuela picked up slack to score well above the previous films. In Argentina, the $1.8M start at 190 locations elevates FSF 22% above Fifty Shades Of Grey and 7% hotter than Fifty Shades Darker.
In Venezuela, Freed logged the biggest opening weekend in history at $1.25M at 72. Ukraine ($905K/178) is also notable as Universal’s top opening ever.
Fifty Shades Freed is the last of an authentic three-part story that concluded the trilogy, as opposed to just another episode.” Over the course of the films, the bestseller as a foundation plus the Valentine’s Day timeline added to catchy and seductive marketing material for a demographic that is regularly underserved.
And, as with the previous movies, the Freed soundtrack is doing rocking business, having reached No. 1 in 67 counties. “To cross $1 billion with this franchise worldwide is a perfect conclusion to a great partnership. To be sure, there were some bumps in the road here with dips in the UK and Australia versus Darker.
But strong showings in growing markets helped overcome some of that. Next weekend is expected to see a healthy overall drop with Black Panther bounding out across the globe.
A bit of a pop will come around Valentine’s Day with some advance sales strung to Cupid’s bow. There are more markets to come online this month including Vietnam, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Korea.
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