The film Fifty Shades of Grey might not have earned great amount of money in Japan and Korea but it has been a huge success globally. The bondage-sex themed film has reportedly earned over U.S. $502 million at the global box-office for Universal Studios, according to latest reports. The film is yet to be released in various countries like India (no release date known yet) and Egypt (March 11).
Because of its highly controversial content, the film has been banned in many Middle Eastern countries and in Malaysia and Indonesia too. Fifty Shades of Grey has earned U.S.$352 million internationally and $150 million in the U.S., according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film gained major chunk of its box-office success from offshore countries like U.K. and Ireland ($46.9 million), Germany ($33.7 million), France ($24.5 million), Brazil ($24.2 million), Italy ($21.2 million), Spain $19.2 million), Russia ($17 million), Australia ($16.1 million), Mexico ($14.6 million), Venezuela ($9.8 million), Poland ($8.6 million) and Argentina ($7.6 million). That means 70 percent of its earnings are coming from offshore. James’ Fifty Shades trilogy has been translated into 52 languages and sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.However in Japan and South Korea, where the book was not that popular, the box-office sales of Fifty Shades of Grey slacked. Its closest rivals are Terminator 2: Judgement Day ($519m, way back in 1991 when that made it the third biggest movie of all time behind Star Wars and E.T.), Ted ($549m), The Hangover part II ($586m), The Passion of the Christ ($611m back in 2004), and The Matrix Reloaded ($742m in 2003).
The film, which is based on the best-selling erotic novel by E.L. James, has also become Universal’s biggest R-rated film of all times, internationally. The film tells the story of Christian Grey (played by actor Jamie Dornan) who is addicted to the world of bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism (BDSM). He falls in love with Anastasia Steele (played by Dakota Johnson) and tries to introduce her to his world.
The film has been in news for more than one year owing to its treatment of sexual content and choice of actors. It has barely been a few weeks when the film got released on the Valentine’s Day weekend but there are many speculations surrounding its sequel, Fifty Shades Darker. Rumours were rife earlier that Jamie will not be doing the sequel because his wife was not comfortable with the sex scenes in the film. But in his latest interview, Jamie said that he will act in the film if he is asked to do so.
There are reports in the media that Fifty Shades of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson is not at good terms with author E.L. James as the latter wanted more sex scenes in the film. Johnson too said in her interview that it was difficult to work with James and it is not sure if she will direct Fifty Shades Darker. However, Universal has yet to announce plans for the next title in the franchise.
