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At some point, about a week ago, I knew Fifty Shades of Grey was going to make tons of money on its opening weekend. The studio believed it, all of the box office prognosticators believed it and you could feel a different vibe coming off of the publicity tour too. All of a sudden, Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan seemed friendlier, looser, happier. Even though Fifty Shades might not be either actor’s best work, at least they didn’t have a massive bomb on their hands.

So, how much money did Fifty Shades make? Something like $81.7 million. Which is less than the $90 million “outside figure” that the studio was hoping for, but way beyond the paltry $50-60 million most people thought would be a “win” a few weeks ago. Fifty Shades’ production cost $40 million, although I’m guessing the studio spent (easily) $20 million promoting the film. According to Yahoo, the film did well in all markets, not just those city-dwelling harlots who wanted to see a sexy movie – like, the movie did well in small town and smaller venues too. And yes, the audience was 68% female. I feel sorry for the 32% dudes who got dragged to the film with their wives and girlfriends.

So, what does this mean? We know from conversations on the promotional tour that Dakota and Jamie had to sign contracts for three films I total. With this kind of box office, I’m sure the studio will greenlight one sequel, if not two. Sam Taylor Johnson has basically said that she would be up for directing the sequels, but after fighting with E.L. James for all those months, I’m kind of hoping Sam just cuts her losses and runs. She’s now a commercially successful director and I’m guessing Universal (and other studios) will be happy to offer her directing projects with moderate-sized budgets from here on out.

Photos courtesy of WENN.
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