Box: Spanking the Competition

1. 50 Shades of Grey - $74m / $74m / $150m
2. SpongeBob Squarepants: Sponge Out of Water - $29m / $93m / $150m
3. Kingsman: The Secret Service - $27m / $27m / $75m
4. American Sniper - $14m / $301.5m / $345m
5. Jupiter Ascending - $8m / $31.5m / $50m
6. Paddington - $3.5m / $61.5m / $73m
**The Imitation Game - $3.5m / $79.5m / $90m
8. Seventh Son - $3m / $12.5m / $18m
9. Black or White - $2.5m / $17.5m / $23m
**Project Almanac - $2.5m / $19.5m / $25m
**The Wedding Ringer - $2.5m / $59m / $64m

BIG weekend ahead. SpongeBob went well above expectations last weekend, and will help further pad this weekend. Obviously, this weekend is all about Grey. It's advance ticket sales are huge, and it could even get close to $100m for the 4-day. I'm keeping it a bit more realistic in my predictions, but it'll do very well despite likely massive frontloading. Universal's marketing campaign for the film has been one of the best in recent memory, regardless of the actual quality of the film. (The reviews aren't the trainwreck many anticipated.) Kingsman will also do well, with a 4-day likely above $30m. It might beat the sponge for the #2 spot.