Fifty Shades of Grey isn't for everyone. Its racy material and other content has divided movie fans and critics. But for those living in some countries, the feature adaptation of E.L. James isn't for anyone, as the racy movie has been banned from theaters in a number of locations. Let's take a look at the list of areas across the globe that refuse to screen the movie...
It's also reportedly banned in Russia's North Caucasus region.
That's the list according to a collection of reports about the film's status in specific parts of the world, though there may be other places not showing the film.
An alternative to locking the film out of theaters entirely seems to be to either give the film a hard rating to ensure only adults see it, or in at least one case, to make content edits to the sexually charged romance movie. For example, Fifty Shades of Grey is screening in Zimbabwe, however CBSNews.com reports that censors ordered an edit on the film to cut out some of the steamy scenes.
Getting banned or not being screened at all -- as is expected for China, according to Deadline -- could put a dent in Fifty Shades' global box office, but FIfty is hardly suffering there.
The film, which tells the story of a virginal college grad (Dakota Johnson) and her introduction to S&M through a dreamy but troubled billionaire businessman (Jamie Dornan), has been performing well at the box office, already having broken the $100 million mark domestically, with an additional $200 million coming in overseas. On an estimated budget of $40 million, the film has already won. Two sequels are expected, however it sounds like the fate of Fifty Shades Darker is a bit uncertain. But based on the numbers, the box office obviously isn't a factor in whatever challenges the sequel might have ahead of it.
Fifty's growing box office haul is an obvious indication that there is an audience for this type of movie, and that, while some may be finding (illegal) ways of screening the film in private, not everyone is averse to sitting through an erotic romance in the company of a theater full of strangers. It's with that in mind that I'm inclined to wonder which studios might be watching these numbers and plotting their own steamy romance adaptation.
There's no shortage of literature available to adapt. In fact, TV is already ahead of the game, with Anne Rice's Beauty series in the works for a cable show, Diana Gabaldon's romantic historical fiction time travel tale, Outlander already airing on Starz, and Jean Aeul's (eventually very steamy) Earth's Children series in the works at Lifetime. Fifty Shades of Grey has had criticism, controversy and banishment working against it, but it's going strong at the box office, which may result in a trend of hot-and-heavy romance on the big screen. We'll have to wait and see.
