Fifty Shades of Black
Fifty Shades of Black is a 2016 American slapstick romantic comedy film directed by Michael Tiddes and starring Marlon Wayans, who also serves as co-writer and co-producer. A parody of the 2015 erotic romantic drama film Fifty Shades of Grey, the film co-stars Kali Hawk, Affion Crockett, Jane Seymour, Andrew Bachelor, Florence Henderson, Jenny Zigrino, Fred Willard and Mike Epps.
Fifty Shades of Black
- Marlon Wayans
- Rick Alvarez
- Marlon Wayans
- Rick Alvarez
David Ortkiese
Lawrence Jordan
- IM Global
- Baby Way Productions
- January 29, 2016
92 minutes[1]
United States
English
$5 million[2]
$22.2 million[3]
The film was released theatrically on January 29, 2016, to universally negative reviews. Despite this, it was a box office success, grossing $22 million worldwide from a $5 million budget. It was also Florence Henderson's last film before her death on November 24, 2016, which was 10 months after the film was released.
Plot[edit]
Christian Black introduces shy college student Hannah Steale to the world of "romance" after she interviews him for her school newspaper. Their kinky relationship stumbles forward despite Christian's shortcomings as a lover and the antics of his racist adoptive mother Claire, his well-endowed brother Eli and Hannah's hyper-sexual roommate Kateesha.
Production[edit]
On June 3, 2015, it was announced that Open Road Films had acquired the US distribution rights to the yet-to-be made film for $5 million.[8][9]
Principal photography on the film began August 11, 2015, in Los Angeles.[10]
Release[edit]
The film was released in North America on January 29, 2016, alongside Kung Fu Panda 3, The Finest Hours, and Jane Got a Gun. The film was projected to gross $10–11 million from 2,075 theaters in its opening weekend.[11] The film grossed $275,000 from its Thursday night previews, $2.3 million on its first day, and $5.9 million in its opening weekend, finishing 10th at the box office.[12] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 19, 2016.[13]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4% based on 46 reviews; the average rating is 2.79/10. The site's consensus reads, "Wildly erratic even for a spoof movie, Fifty Shades of Black bears the unfortunate distinction of offering fewer laughs than the unintentionally funny film it's trying to lampoon."[14] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 28 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[15] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.[12]
Critic Mark Kermode dismissed Fifty Shades of Black as another lame parody film, among the likes of Scary Movie (2000), Epic Movie (2007) and Vampires Suck (2010).[16] Austin film critic Korey Coleman ended his review by starting an online petition to stop Marlon Wayans from making any more parody films.[17] He gave it the #1 spot for the worst movie of 2016, tying it with Yoga Hosers.[18]
Kermode was critical of the humor: "Cue jokes about wallet and car theft, fried chicken and Bill Cosby, alongside glasshouse/brick complaints about EL James being a rubbish writer. When it all runs out of steam, the cock-and-ball routines downshift into riffs from Whiplash and Magic Mike, but sadly, these aren’t funny either."[16] J.R. Jones condemned the jokes as a set of "amplified racial stereotypes and misogynistic swipes", citing the running gag of male characters calling Hawk's character "ugly", as well as the rape jokes, as examples.[19] Henry Barnes claimed there is a "Cosby joke, a Kanye joke and huge spaces where the laughs should be", particularly arguing that the "abuse is amplified out of the realm of satire into a weird hinterland of really unfunny gross-out and blaxploitation revenge flick".[20]
Jones did, however, highlight the "impressive attention to detail, meticulously re-creating the original film's costumes and sets, and Kali Hawk nails her Dakota Johnson impression as the virginal protagonist".[19]