We'll avoid the "vaguely satisfying climax at the box office" gags for the news that Fifty Shades Freed, the third and final entry in the Fifty Shades franchise has launched at the top of the US box office. Though it has essentially been slaughtered by reviewers, it earned $38.8 million, according to studio estimates.
Yet that's still a substantial drop compared to the previous two films, which opened with $85 million and $46 million in 2015 and 2017 respectively. Taken together, the three films have now earned more than $1 billion worldwide, even as no one is pointing to them as examples of classic filmmaking.
Peter Rabbit, which looked to appeal to family audiences unmoved by the idea of fast cars and mildly kinky sex, opened with $25 million for a second place kick off. That meant it landed ahead of Clint Eastwood's based-on-truth drama The 15:17 To Paris pulled in third, taking home $12.6 million.
The rest of the chart was longer-serving films, including Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, which slipped to fourth and earned $9.8 million. Rounding out the top five was The Greatest Showman with $6.4 million.
Maze Runner: The Death Cure fell to sixth place, making $6 million. Ill-favoured horror Winchester tumbled to seventh on $5 million. Steven Spielberg's The Post was down to eighth, earning $3.5 million, while The Shape Of Water clung to ninth with $3 million. Finally in 10th we find Den Of Thieves, which earned $2.8 million.
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