Movie Trailers & Preview 2015: 'Fifty Shades of Grey' To Beat 'Kingsman' Over Weekend Box Office
With Valentine's Day coming up, Hollywood will provide two very contrasting films that subvert what audiences would expect of a Valentine's Day film.
The erotic sex thriller "Fifty Shades of Grey" will compete for the box office crown against the spy action thriller "Kingsman: The Secret Service."
"Fifty Shades of Grey"
After a year in production, the film based on the bestselling novel by E.L. James will finally open. Starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, the movie tells the story of a literature student Anastasia Steele, whose life changes forever when she meets handsome, yet tormented billionaire Christian Grey. The film has been rumored to have 20 minutes of sex scenes, which has provided for speculation on how revealing the scenes will be compared to the controversial book. The film has been receiving mixed reviews, but most critics agree that the film is an improvement over the book, which was released in 2011. Regardless of bad reviews, "Fifty Shades of Grey" is tracking solidly and is likely to break the Valentine's Day weekend record and open north of $60 million. It will also likely be the highest opening for Focus Features, which is known as the specialty division of Universal. The movie directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson will open in 3,645 theaters.
"Kingsman: The Secret Service"
Originally scheduled for the Holiday season, 20th Century Fox pushed the released of Matthew Vaughn's latest film in order to finish post-production work. The new movie starring Academy Award winner Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Caine tells the story of a spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius. The movie has scored rave reviews among critics and currently has a 75 percent aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes. Vaughn has proven to be one of the most promising directors in the Hollywood system, but he has yet to find solid box office numbers outside of "X-Men." The film is expected to open with at least $20 million, and with Presidents Day on Monday, it could reach the mid-$30 million mark. However, it is unexpected to surpass "Fifty Shades of Grey."
In art house theaters, Radius TWC will release "The Last 5 Years," which premiered at Toronto and will also be released on VOD. The film stars Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick and has scored rave reviews.
Freestyle will expand the romance "Old Fashioned" into 200 theaters after playing for one week in limited release. Unison and Paladin will team up for the release of "What We Do in the Shadows."
Meanwhile, Honorara Productions will release "Hits," and China Lion will take out "Somewhere Only We Know."
However, if none of these releases look appetizing, "The Spongebob Movie: Sponge out of Water," "Jupiter Ascending," "The Wedding Ringer" and "Black or White" will still be in theaters.
A number of Oscar nominees will also take advantage of the last weekend before the Oscars. Six time nominee "American Sniper" will likely reach the $300 million, and "The Imitation Game" will edge closer to the $100 million mark.
"Birdman" "Selma" and "The Theory of Everything" will continue in a limited wide release, and "Still Alice" will expand as it continue to become an Indie breakout. Foreign films "Two Days, One Night," "Leviathan" and "Timbuktu" will also continue to expand to increase their audience and their box office.
"Whiplash," "Foxcatcher" and "Boyhood" are still playing but in limited releases. A24 will also continue to have the Oscar snubbed drama "A Most Violent Year" in theaters.
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