Arum happy over modest ticket sales, PPV buys

LAS VEGAS—Top Rank chief Bob Arum said Friday that about 2,000 tickets are still up for sale a day before Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr. collide in the final chapter of their trilogy Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at MGM Grand here.

But Arum said he expects a lion’s share of those tickets to be gobbled up by weekend walk-in fans before the start of the pay-per-view card at 6 p.m. Pacific time.

But even if the rubber match between Pacquiao and Bradley doesn’t draw enough people to sell out the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Arum won’t mind. It wasn’t an easy promotion, even for an organization that just celebrated 50 years of producing fight cards.

For one, Pacquiao is coming off a long layoff that followed a lackadaisical duel with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr, which fell way short of the “Fight of the Century” hype. Pacquiao lost that match due to an injured shoulder.

Pacquiao also took a hit in his popularity after his comments on same-sex marriage.

That’s why Arum has set modest financial targets for this promotions.

“Whether [it’s a] sold out or 90 or 95% percent, we’re very happy with how the tickets went,” Arum told INQUIRER.net. Arum is also eyeing pay-per-view buys of 700,000, a far cry from the 4.4 million buys the Mayweather duel generated.

Arum is left to count whatever small victories Top Rank lands promotion-wise and one of them is the turnout at Friday’s weigh-in at MGM Grand.

“I think it’s very good [the reception]. The weigh-in was very good. People were well behaved,” Arum said.

source: sports.inquirer.net

‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ rakes in $81.7M on opening weekend

"Fifty Shades of Grey," the widely anticipated adaptation of the best-selling novel about a kinky relationship between a businessman and a college student, took in $81.7 million in ticket sales to soar to the top of US and Canadian weekend box office charts.

The film, which stars James Dornan and Dakota Johnson as the libidinous couple, far outpaced the No. 2 release, "Kingsman: The Secret Service," which took in $35.6 million from Friday through Sunday, according to studio estimates.

Third place on the US Presidents' Day holiday weekend went to the family-friendly "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water," based on the popular television show about a talking animated sponge, which sold $30.5 million in tickets at US and Canadian theaters.

"Fifty Shades" got a boost from a Valentine's Day opening after it was released earlier in the week in 57 foreign markets. It took in an additional $158 million overseas, for a global total of $240 million.

Early US screenings on Thursday night brought in $8.6 million, setting the scene for a record-breaking opening for any Presidents' Day weekend.

Nick Carpou, president of domestic distribution for Universal Pictures, the Comcast Corp. Unit that released the film, said a combination of Valentine's Day, a long holiday weekend and intense interest from smaller and mid-sized markets all helped drive the record numbers.

Pre-sale figures in southern states such as Mississippi and Kentucky reflected especially high interest. Sales in the northeast, being pummeled by another big winter storm, as well as in the south-central regions of the country, exceeded what might have been expected, Carpou said.

"Kingsman," an adaptation of a popular comic series starring Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Firth about a spy agency's training program and a global threat by a tech genius, received solid reviews and exceeded industry forecasts.

Rounding out the top five, the box office hit "American Sniper" took in $16.4 million, bringing its domestic haul to just over $304 million and making it one of the biggest hits of 2014-15. The Clint Eastwood-directed film is nominated for six Oscars, including one for Bradley Cooper as best actor.

The sci-fi film "Jupiter Ascending" was fifth with $9.4 million.

"Kingsman: The Secret Service" was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of 21st Century Fox. "The SpongeBob Movie" was distributed by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc . "American Sniper" and "Jupiter Ascending" were released by Warner Brothers, a unit of Time Warner Inc. —Reuters