Fifty Shades of Black


Fifty Shades of Black is a 2016 American 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.
The film was released theatrically on January 29, 2016 to near 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.

Synopsis

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.

Cast

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.
Principal photography on the film began August 11, 2015, in Los Angeles.

Release

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. 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. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 19, 2016.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 7% 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." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 28 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.
British film critic Mark Kermode gave the film a negative and short review, saying simply, "It's just not funny."
Austin film critic Korey Coleman famously ended his review by starting an online petition to stop Marlon Wayans from making any more parody films. He gave it the #1 spot for the worst movie of 2016, tying it with Yoga Hosers.

Accolades