Box office prediction: Fifty Shades Freed to rule the pre-Valentine week with $40 million collection

While Marvel's Black Panther is ready to kick up a storm at the box office next week, the pre-Valentine week will get rolling with Universal's erotic thriller Fifty Shades Freed starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan.

Releasing in the United States on February 9, the BDSM-themed drama based on EL James' trilogy will be opening at more than 3,700 locations. Given the numbers of its predecessors Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker, the third installment of the franchise is estimated to gross nearly $35-40 million on the opening weekend.

The box office numbers might not be as good as for the previous films in the franchise. While Fifty Shades of Grey had an $85.2-million first-weekend collection in 2015, Fifty Shades Darker earned $46.6 million on the first weekend in 2017.

Also read: Fifty Shades Freed actress Dakota Johnson opens up about her preparations before doing the sex scenes

Fifty Shades Freed will compete with Sony's family comedy Peter Rabbit, which will also open at 3,700 locations. It is pegged to earn about $16 million while Clint Eastwood's thriller 15:17 to Paris is likely to gross about $12 million from 3,042 venues.

The first two installments of the Fifty Shades franchise grossed almost $950 million globally. Fifty Shades of Grey turned out to be a box office champion despite getting terrible reviews from critics worldwide. It earned a mammoth $571 million globally with only a $40 million production cost.

With a production budget of $55 million, Fifty Shades Darker earned a total of $381 million at the worldwide box office.

The official synopsis of Fifty Shades Freed reads:

"Believing they have left behind shadowy figures from their past, newlyweds Christian and Ana fully embrace an inextricable connection and shared life of luxury. But just as she steps into her role as Mrs Grey and he relaxes into an unfamiliar stability, new threats could jeopardize their happy ending before it even begins."

Directed by James Foley and adapted by Niall Leonard, Fifty Shades Freed will see Jamie Dornan as Christian and Dakota Johnson as Anastasia. The movie will also feature Kim Basinger, Marcia Gay Harden, Rita Ora, Tyler Hoechlin, Luke Grimes, Brant Daugherty and Arielle Kebbel, among others.

Watch the trailer of the film here: