Judi Dench beats ‘Fifty Shades’ into box office submission

Judi Dench and Maggie Smith have more pulling power than Christian Grey’s saucy bedroom antics after The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel knocked Fifty Shades Of Grey off the top spot at the UK box office.

John Madden’s comedy drama sequel, which also stars Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Celia Imrie and Richard Gere, proved the grey pound is stronger than ever as the film opened at number one in the UK, with takings of around £3.74m, including £700,000 in previews.

Fifty Shades — Sam Taylor- Johnson’s big-screen adaptation of EL James’s erotic novel, starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson — dropped to second place with sales of £2.24m, with Will Smith’s conman caper Focus taking third spot in its opening weekend with about £1.9m, according to figures by Screen Daily.