'Fifty Shades' Dominates Weekend Box Office

Newcomers like "Fifty Shades Freed," ''Peter Rabbit" and "The 15:17 to Paris" breathed some fresh life into a marketplace that has for weeks been dominated by "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle," ''The Greatest Showman" and various Oscar contenders. But it's all just setting the stage for "Black Panther," which opens next week. "Fifty Shades Freed"managed to take the top spot on the charts in North American theaters. Universal Pictures estimated Sunday that the final chapter in the Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele saga earned $38.8 million over the weekend — down significantly from the first film's $85.2 million debut and even the sequel's $46.6 million opening, but enough to bump the three-film franchise over $1 billion globally.