Universal Pictures and Focus FeaturesWell, that was short-lived.
It seems that moviegoers might already be sick of their infatuation with Fifty Shades of Grey. During the film's opening weekend (over Valentine's Day) it brought in a record-breaking $85 million, making it the highest-grossing February debut ever. Based on pure anecdotal evidence (read: conversations around the E! office), audiences turned out both out of pure curiosity, and because they were actually fans of the book trilogy.
But it seems that there's a shelf life to that morbid curiosity, and it's approximately five days. According to The Hollywood Reporter, this weekend's ticket sales dropped a whopping 73 percent. While many flicks with huge opening weekends experience a big of a dropoff in the following weeks, Fifty Shades' decline is certainly larger than normal.
The paper offered up a few theories for the sharp drop in sales—the Academy Award broadcast on Sunday and the ongoing bad weather on the East Coast—but we're going to guess it has a little something to do with the very mixed reactions from moviegoers. And there's the fact that this isn't a movie you can see with just anybody, or just any state of mind (read: sober).
But it's not all bad news for Fifty Shades. It seems our overseas counterparts are more into BDSM than the average American, as it has earned more than $400 million globally. For those of you who aren't well-versed in ticket sales, that's a pretty hefty sum. And it's still the No. 1 movie in the world, so don't go worrying about the fate of Ana and Christian just yet.