I was pretty sure this was how it was going to play out also. It was just too creepy to appeal to mainstream America - we aren’t quite that far gone yet. Overseas perhaps they are crazy enough.
I thought, all the kinks will jump up to see it and drive it the first week, but it’s probably not a very good movie (how can it be?) and it will drop off.
I saw one write-up where they were gloating that it passed “The Passion”. I thought, “You wish”.
Here's how the domestic numbers, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com, back you up:
OPENING DAY: Shades - $30,278,840 Passion - $26,556,573. Shades opened on a Friday, Passion on a Wed. Both were #1 for the day.
CONSECUTIVE DAYS AT #1 from open: Passion - 21 Shades - 3
BEST DAY: Passion - $33,077,939 on 2/28/04 Shades - $36,752,460 on 2/14/15. We all know why.
# OF DAYS TO $100,000,000: Shades - 6 Passion - 5. Came close to making it in 4.
# OF DAYS TO $140,000,000: Shades - 15 Passion - 7. Came close to making it in 6
# OF DAYS TO $150,000,000: Passion - 8. Came close to doing it in 7. Shades - ???
# OF DAYS TO $200,000,000: Passion - 12. Came close to doing it in 11. Shades - will never see it domestically. And definitely won't see $370,000,000+ like Passion did.
I just discovered something interesting about the foreign numbers. According to Mojo, Shades has made $338,000,000+ overseas so far. But if you total the countries they list you get $45,476,971. Looks like someone is trying to engage in a little political math. Someone needs to blister their website for lying.
In any case, Shades won't come anywhere near the $241,000,000+ that Passion made overseas.
AND THE PIECE de RESISTANCE: Passion totaled $611 million + in 2004 dollars. I would love to see that total in 2015 dollars.
That is all. Peace. Out.