Valentine's Day couples, housewife book clubs and everyone curious to pull back the curtain on BDSM packed the theaters over the weekend and made "Fifty Shades of Grey" the highest-grossing opening weekend for a movie helmed by a female director.
Sam Taylor-Johnson's adaptation of the E.L. James trilogy is estimated to earn $90.7 million over the extended Valentine's Day and Presidents Day weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The movie already grossed $81.7 million in its first three days.
"Fifty Shades" opening weekend surpasses the debut of the first "Twilight" movie directed by Catherine Hardwicke, which grossed $69.6 million in November 2008. Taylor-Johnson was given a $40 million budget, but she had to deal with the novel's author James, who she butted heads with on set.
The sexy thriller also played well oversees, bringing in $158 million for a worldwide total of $248.7 million. The film also broke the record for "biggest international opening" of an R-rated movie, according to Deadline.
The movie starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson opened in more than 50 international markets, and still has yet to premiere in five other countries including Trinidad and South Korea. The movie has been banned in Malaysia and Indonesia.
See below for the other top 10 films with the highest domestic gross opening weekend for a female director (via The Hollywood Reporter):
1. "Twilight" (2008) at $69.6 million - Catherine Hardwicke
2. "Frozen" (2013) at $67.4 million - Jennifer Lee & Chris Buck
3. "Brave" (2012) at $66.3 million - Brenda Chapman & Mark Andrews
4. "Kung Fu Panda" (2011) at $47.7 million - Jennifer Yuh Nelson
5. "Deep Impact" (1998) at $41.2 million - Mimi Leder
6. "The Proposal" (2009) at $33.6 million - Anne Fletcher
7. "What Women Want" (2000) at $33.6 million - Nancy Meyers
8. "Unbroken" (2014) at $30.6 million - Angelina Jolie
9. "Zero Dark Thirty" (2012) at $24.4 million - Kathryn Bigelow
10. "27 Dresses" (2008) at $23 million - Anne Fletcher
