10 Awful Franchises That Proved Bad Movies Can Still Make Big Money
3. Fifty Shades of Grey
About as erotic as Keith Chegwin on Naked Jungle and as thrilling as power-washing your driveway on an overcast day, the Fifty Shades franchise was as bland and inoffensive as the so-called 'smutty' source material was, with the notable exception of its ability to generate some gentle gasps and blushing cheeks from the cabal of Karens who devoured every word.
My word, were these big screen adaptations terrible. Stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson couldn't quite seem to decide what they hated more between the fact they agreed to star in these cinematic abominations or each other, while the dialogue was even more laughable than ever now that it was being spoken out loud by actual humans.
But as the saying goes, there's an a*se for every seat in this world, and despite taking a critical battering the Fifty Shades trilogy still managed to scoop up over $1.3bn at the box office as boomers flocked in their droves to see a bit of the old slap and tickle on the biggest screen possible.