Though it still held on to the number one spot, last week’s box office champ, Fifty Shades of Grey dropped a steep 74% to take in $22.2 million for its second weekend. It would appear that those looking for their BDSM fix found it a week ago.
Kingsman: The Secret Service held up better, dropping 49.3% for $18.3 million and second place. With a domestic gross already reaching $67.9 million, Kingsman has a shot at hitting $100 million before it leaves theaters. And in its third weekend, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water held on to third place with $16.6 million.
Among the newcomers, Kevin Costner‘s newest film, McFarland, USA, from Whale Rider director Niki Caro, debuted in fourth place with $11 million. It’s an okay start for the sports drama, comparable to the opening of Disney’s Million Dollar Arm ($10.5 million) and better than Costner’s Draft Day ($9.8 million).
In fifth place was teen comedy The DUFF with $10.8 million. While this is nowhere near the resounding success of films like Easy A or Mean Girls, it’s perfectly solid for a movie targeted at teenage girls with a modest budget of $8.5 million.
Meanwhile, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 joins a long line of comedy sequels that nobody really asked for. Absent the star power of John Cusack, HTTM 2 pulled in only $5.9 million – good enough for only seventh place behind American Sniper, which pulled in $10 million in its ninth week. Hot Tub Time Machine 2‘s opening gross is barely more than a third of what the original earned when it debuted in 2010. No doubt Cusack’s absence stung, not to mention how memories may have dulled in the past five years. Was anybody really clamoring for this sequel?
READ OUR REVIEW: Hot Tub Time Machine 2: This Sequel Doesn’t Hold Water
The Top Ten:
- Fifty Shades of Grey, $22.2 million
- Kingsman: The Secret Service, $18.3 million
- The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, $16.6 million
- McFarland, USA, $11 million
- The DUFF, $10.8 million
- American Sniper, $10 million
- Hot Tub Time Machine 2, $5.9 million
- Jupiter Ascending, $3.8 million
- The Imitation Game, $2.5 million
- Paddington, $2.4 million