‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Has Successful Debut Despite Mostly Negative Reviews

Fifty Shades of Grey has kicked off the Valentine’s Day weekend with an expected box office high in America, while breaking opening day records around the world.

The erotic thriller scored Universal’s biggest U.S. opening day numbers thanks to a $8.6 million haul on Thursday night, and landed the second highest late-night showing for an R-rated film after The Hangover 2.

The film, starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, is on track to gross over $50 million over the weekend, becoming the top Valentine’s Day release of all time in the process.

The film version of E. L. James’ raunchy bestselling novel is also expected to do well overseas, with some film industry experts predicting it could gross over $75 million..

It has already smashed opening day box office records for an R-rated film in the Philippines and Australia.

The film has been so successful this far that star Jamie Dornan plans to flee Britain this weekend as he fears he will be unable to go out in public.

The erotic drama opens in the U.K. this weekend amid a swirl of reports Brits are going bondage-crazy in a bid to recreate the kinky scenes at home.

Dornan, who lives in London with his wife and daughter, fears his role as sexually-dominant Christian Grey will make him a target for saucy remarks when he is out and about, so he is planning to escape the country for a secret location.

He tells U.K. chat show host Graham Norton, “I am fleeing the country. I am certainly not going to stand in Leicester Square without my shirt asking people if they enjoyed the movie! I am keeping a low profile… It is a relief now it is here. The attention has been strange.”

Find out what FanBolt’s Editor-in-Chief thought of the movie here.

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures