Box Office Roundup: ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ Debuts On Top

Like its predecessors, the third film in the hit Shade series Fifty Shades Freed has debuted number one at the box office with an estimated $38.8 million.  The final film in the trilogy was able to hold off fellow newcomers Peter Rabbit and The 15:17 to Paris.  Freed earned an estimated $98 million overseas for a weekend debut of $139 million total worldwide.

For comparison, 2015’s Fifty shades opened with $85 million domestically and 2017’s Fifty Shades Darker opened with a $45 million weekend.  While Freed earned less than its two predecessors, the franchise has crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide.

Peter Rabbit finished second with a domestic estimate of $25 million.  The new Sony animated film is the 80th best all-time February opening weekend, finishing a mere $4,500 behind 2014’s Robocop remake which sits uncomfortably at 79.  Rabbit opened in 3,768 theaters, which is the fifth largest per-screen-February-opening of all time.

Third place finisher The 15:17 to Paris opened with an estimated $12.6 million.  The Clint Eastwood film is the director’s sixth largest grossing opening weekend of all-time.  Sounds unbelievable but a film like American Sniper which grossed $350 million domestically and $547.4 million worldwide opened in only four theaters back in 2014.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle added another $9.8 million for a domestic total of $365 million.  The film was released 54 days ago, still occupies a top five position and has earned more than $881 million.  I think it’s safe to say, the film has been a huge disappointment.

The Greatest Showman has shown great resilience and rounds out our weekend top five with an estimated $6.4 million.  The musical sits at $146 million, and is the sixth highest grossing musicals of all-time.

Here’s the top five weekend box office estimates via Collider:

Title Weekend Domestic BO Total Domestic BO
1. ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ $38,806,000 $38,806,000
2. ’Peter Rabbit’ $25,000,000 $25,000,000
3. ‘The 15:17 to Paris’ $12,600,000 $12,600,000
4. ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ $9,825,000 $365,656,871
5. ‘The Greatest Showman’ $6,400,000 $146,535,870

About Peter Towe

A graduate of UMASS Boston, Pete now lives in Chicago where he does the movie thing. This mostly consists of watching copious amounts of movies and attempting to craft his own.

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