No, Fifty Shades of Grey is not a very good movie, and it's just the latest example of a marketing hypefest that, depending on your expectations, ended in disappointment. It's incredible that anyone could still underestimate Fifty Shades after it became an international best-selling book and nearly single-handedly gave everyone an excuse to get a Kindle, but here we are, in a fresh tidal wave of 'there goes culture' hand-wringy jokes.

'50 Shades' officially the biggest opening for any film directed by a woman. Fifty Shades, though - that's just for the ladies, right? (And their significant others, who are almost universally depicted as being ' dragged' to the film.) How much appeal could an explicit, ultra-soft-core S&M fantasy possibly have in a global market? Especially one that, by all accounts, is not very good? Perhaps that success could be explained away by the fact that The Heat was a raunchy Apatow-lineage comedy, and men did not have to be embarrassed about enjoying it just as much as people who have the same chromosomes as its stars. It's reminiscent of the opening weekend for The Heat, the 2013 buddy cop film starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, which surprised a lot of industry types when it trounced the Channing Tatum / Jamie Foxx summer action flick White House Down.

It is further proof for those that still stubbornly refuse to believe that women will go to the movies when they are marketed to.įurther proof for those that still stubbornly refuse to believe that women will go to the movies In somewhat fuzzier demographic terms, you could make a strong argument that Fifty Shades of Grey is the largest opening weekend for a female-targeted motion picture. It grossed $81.7 million domestically in its first three days, over $10 million more than the Catherine Hardwicke-directed Twilight, which made $69.6 million in its debut. Subtext: a film that grossed $235 million globally in its opening weekend has questionable legitimacy.įifty Shades of Grey had the biggest opening weekend for a film directed by a woman (Sam Taylor-Johnson) in box office history.Fifty Shades of Grey was not critically well-received by this demographic (and, it goes without saying, actual film critics).

Subtext: this demographic has questionable legitimacy.

Fifty Shades of Grey's appeal is limited to a specific demographic ('middle aged women's groups').

Fifty Shades of Grey has made a lot of money.

Murdoch the favor of unpacking his cultural observation / joke. Because tweets are limited to 140 characters, I will do Mr. This is a tweet written by News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch about the motion picture Fifty Shades of Grey. But anecdotal evidence they all disappointed! Cinemas full of middle aged women's groups.

Fifty shades of grey movie tickets