Free Republic

Fifty Shades of Grey certainly lived up to expectations as moviegoers flocked to see the erotic film over Valentine's weekend. The unconventional romance raked in $93 million in ticket sales in the US alone - the biggest February opening ever. But the tale of billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) and his sadomasochistic relationship with college graduate Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) did more than that by scoring over a quarter of a billion dollars internationally.

Resourceful. Mysterious background. Domineering. Dark features. Maybe a little grumpy at a party. Sound familiar? In truth we could be describing anyone from Sherlock Holmes to Indiana Jones, Edward Cullen to Fifty Shades of Grey’s titular S&M-loving CEO, Christian Grey. But in many respects the original difficult-to-understand and jerky-on-the-surface romantic hero sprang from the loins of one undeniable and instantly recognizable source. We speak, of course, of Mr. Darcy— Fitzwilliam to friends.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” sizzled at the box office, setting new records for the highest grossing Presidents Day Weekend opener of all time and ranking among the biggest R-rated debuts in history. The erotic drama performed like a comic book movie, albeit one with much naughtier costumes, picking up $81.7 million from 3,646 locations over the three-day period. That easily trumped the holiday’s previous record-holder, the 2010 debut of the romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day,” which kicked off with $56.3 million.

IN a society where almost every cultural phenomenon ends up interpreted through an ideological lens, the success de scandale of “Fifty Shades of Grey” — the books, the movie, the branded cuffs and whips — has left culture warriors a little bit confused. Is this another transgressive breakthrough — the latest blow to whatever remains of traditional morality, the mainstreaming of a lifestyle long locked away from view? Or is the now-famous story, with its alpha male gazillionaire and his punished female prize, actually a reactionary fairy tale, encouraging submission to the latest version of the patriarchy? The answer, of...

3RD UPDATE, SATURDAY AM: If Fifty Shades Of Grey handcuffs Universal’s very early international weekend estimate of $158.3M, it will become the studio’s 2nd biggest offshore opening frame ever, just behind Fast & Furious 6’s $160.3M. Outside sources whisper that it is likely to climax even higher than that for this five-day session. It is expected to be far-and-away the biggest opening weekend of all-time for an R-rated film overseas, whipping previous title holder The Matrix Revolutions at $117M.

Russell Wilson has had a solid career so far as an NFL quarterback but his career as a movie critic has gotten off to a rocky start. The Seahawks quarterback went to see 50 Shades of Grey on Thursday night and by Friday morning, his review of the movie was in.

Update, Saturday 3:30 AM: In Friday late night grosses, Universal Focus’ Fifty Shades of Grey is poised to hit a February opening day record with industry estimates predicting a first day of $31M for the feature adaptation of E.L. James’ fan femme novel and revised weekend projections standing at $83M for FSS and a potential four-day of $91M. Should Fifty Shades final at its current weekend projections, it is bound to find a place among the top R-rated weekend openings of all-time. 2003’s Matrix Reloaded currently owns the top FSS for an R-Rated film with $91.77M while 2004’s Passion of...

Universal and Focus Features’ Fifty Shades of Grey kicked off its North American release at 2,830 engagements last night, racking up the second-highest Thursday night preview ever with $8.6M. The record holder for an R-rated preview belongs to Warner Bros. The Hangover 2, which made $10.4M in midnight previews before its Memorial Day weekend 2011 release.

Adapting a worldwide phenomenon like Fifty Shades of Grey into a film can be a huge risk. There are millions of fans to appease, an author’s own vision to consider, and a taboo subject to navigate for the masses. But for director Sam Taylor-Johnson, all of those risks motivated her. “I knew it was going to be an enormous challenge,” Taylor-Johnson told The Daily Beast. It’s only her second feature film—her first being 2008’s Nowhere Boy, which chronicled the early life of John Lennon—and the subject was relatively unfamiliar territory for her. “But that’s partly why I did it.”

Fifty Shades will definitely be a film trilogy. Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Free - the sequels to literary phenomenon Fifty Shades Of Grey - have also been given the go ahead for the big screen. Jamie Dornan, who plays the eponymous kinky multi-millionaire businessman Christian Grey, will reprise his role in both films.

Fans of Fifty Shades Of Grey, you've been warned: leave those whips and riding crops at home on your way to the movies next week. AMC, Regal Entertainment and Cinemark have banned movie goers from bringing naughty props to the cinema in anticipation of the hotly awaited world premiere of Fifty Shades Of Grey. The film adaptation of EL James' steamy best-selling erotic romance starring Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele hits the big screen on Valentine’s Day, February 14.

It's one of the most talked-about movies of the year. But fans hoping to see Fifty Shades of Grey in Malaysia will be left disappointed, as the on-screen adaptation of the book has been deemed unacceptable for viewing. The racy flick was due to have its official cinema release in the Southeast Asian country on February 12, but that has now been cancelled.

It is one of the most hotly-anticipated films of the year. Which might explain why Fifty Shades of Grey fans have been treated to a second clip from the forthcoming 'bonkbuster'. In tense, sexually-charged moments from the first story-line arc, Jamie Dornan's infamous character can be seen making his first moves on Dakota Johnson's alter ego in the fateful interview scene. Looking plain and nondescript, Johnson's Anastasia Steele can be seen getting hot and shifty in the flirtatious exchange with Christian Grey. Wearing a floral blouse with a teal-coloured cardigan, she is - at first glance - an unlikely match...

A Philadelphia mother wants her son’s high school teacher fired after he bought the teen the novel Fifty Shades of Grey for in-class reading. Maya Ladson says she was shocked to find a copy of the racy read in her 14-year-old’s book bag back on March 9. That shock turned to outrage when she found out how he got the book. “The minute I found out about it, it raised concern,” the mother told NBC10.com Thursday. “This is not OK to me. This is major.” Ladson's son, who is a 9th grade student at Eastern University Academy Charter School in...

Although we all know that Islam literally means "Peace" and in practical [ terms of expression ] it stands for " Terrorism" or " Mass Murder of Innocents". Followers of Islam are muslims or Momineen. According to the behaviour , there are 13 types of Muslims. 1) Suicide Bombers : These are the most dangerous type of Muslims , they are willing to die in order to take lives of innocent non muslims.They are filled with deep hatred to massacre non muslims and are willing to go to any extent to do it.Examples : Sept 11 Hijackers Mohammad Atta &...

The State Capitol is hemorrhaging red ink. The non-partisan legislative analyst's office (LAO) has released a report showing that the revenue shortfall from the budget just passed in August could exceed $10 billion. Fortunately, the governor and the Legislature established a modest $4 billion reserve or the deficit would be much higher. How did we get into this mess? If this seems like déjà vu all over again, you're right. It's been just seven years since then Governor Gray Davis, who inherited a budget surplus, began to run up massive state deficits which were largely responsible for his being recalled....

Markets braced for the worst By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (Filed: 15/05/2006) Global markets are bracing for turmoil today after an ominous slide in the US dollar and a slump in equity and bond prices late last week sent tremors through the global financial system, evoking memories of the 1987 crash. Emerging economies have led the sell-off as investors recoil from risky assets, pummelling stocks and bonds in Turkey, Hungary, Iceland and much of Latin America. The currencies of Brazil, Mexico and South Africa all suffered their sharpest falls in two years as foreign funds rushed for the exits. In New York,...

New Jersey, a Blue State, May Be Trying on Shades of Purple By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI Published: September 26, 2004 TRENTON, Sept. 25 - To those who view this year's presidential race as a battle between politically polarized red and blue states, New Jersey has usually been viewed as so unquestionably Democratic that it could be colored somewhere between midnight and navy. But after trailing Mr. Kerry by 10 points in New Jersey as recently as late August, President Bush has sustained a bounce he received after the Republican convention, and three surveys released within the past 10 days suggest that...

A German firm having success with a range of designer sunglasses for dogs is now hoping to break into the British market. The firm, Dog Goes, is struggling to keep up with demand since launching the sunglasses for dogs at the start of the year. They were originally designed to protect mountain rescue dogs from damaging their eyes from the glare of the sun on snow fields. Company manager Silvia Wilsch Herold said: "We hope to break into the British market soon, one vet there has taken some samples and I think the British will take to the idea." Prices...