Fandango Sets Record For R-Rated Movies

Read on to learn which movie set the new record.

Story by David Clark

Fandango reported this week that pre-sold passes to Fifty Shades of Grey, which is set to release the day before Valentine’s Day, has set a record for the site.

The sites statistics revealed that Fifty Shades of Grey has set records for advanced ticket sales for R-Rated movies and is on pace to set a record for most sales ever. The movie starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan will likely be the next big thing to hit theaters in 2015. As an adaptation from a book series the storyline has already garnered an obsessive fan base. The book trilogy has already sold over 100 million copies worldwide. The series has had record sales in Britain and has also sold over 45 million copies in the United States alone.

For something that started as an experimental story inspired by the Twilight series the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, written by E.L. James, has taken on a life of its’ own. The books are described by words like amusing, erotic, moving, intense, etc… Based upon the reported pre-sales numbers it sounds like fans of the trilogy are nearly fanatical to see the carnal nature of the books brought to life on the big screen.

The movie will bring the book characters of Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) to life. Following the book’s premise, as a young literature student Steele interviews a young up-and-coming entrepreneur named Christian Grey. The character depth of Dornan’s performance is revealed when the evenly tempered Grey turns out to be a man who is troubled and consumed by a need for control. As Steele and Grey explore their passion for each-other the dark desires of each are exposed.

Given the success of other recent book to film adaptations such as The Hunger Games and the Twilight series it is little wonder that producers are still utilizing the formula. If the fan base that follows the E.L. James trilogy find the movies to be enticing this could be one of the highest grossing films of the year, if not all time. When the inevitable happens and Fifty Shades of Grey makes good on the anticipated blockbuster sales it is safe to assume the sequels to the book will also be adapted to the big screen. The movie sequels will likely be titled Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, assuming they follow the names of the next two books in the trilogy.

Women are already on the edge of their seats for the film’s release. Even men might be a little curious at this point due to all the publicity, and because they are going to get dragged to the movie by their significant others anyway.

For now we must be content to wait until the 13th of February for the much anticipated film.

Sources:CBS; IMDB