FIFTY Shades of Grey didn’t hit cinema screens until today but it has already made box office history in Swindon with ticket sales beating blockbusters such as Skyfall and Harry Potter.

The book series which left women across the globe swooning over leader character Christian Grey’s erotic proclivities prompted unprecedented sales in the town ahead of its opening weekend, with 5,000 seats already booked at Empire, in Greenbridge, and a further 2,000 at Cineworld Regent Circus.

“In terms of bookings this is unprecedented,” said Jon Nutton, marketing director for Empire Cinemas.

“In Swindon we’ve sold 5,000 tickets for opening week and as a company 60,000 tickets. We’ve never seen anything like it, even when you compare it to Skyfall and Harry Potter.

“In terms of who is booking there is a female bias. But we’ve had a number of bookings made by males online. But we can’t tell if it’s a Valentine’s Day treat or if their partners asked them to book it for them.”

Empire has scheduled 14 screenings per day of the movie, starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson.

“Sales are expected to increase further during the weekend, prompted by the premiere at Empire Leicester Square,” added Michelle Brown, assistant general manager at Empire.

“Fourteen shows a day are currently scheduled and more will be added if demand calls for it.”

It also looks like Valentine’s Day this year will be less about hearts and flowers and more about risque romance at Cineworld in Regent Circus, with 10 showings a day scheduled.

General manager Matt Bayliss said: “We’ve sold 2,000 tickets for the first week and it’s probably going to be our best opening since Skyfall.

“There is a lot of buzz about it. It will be in five of our screens at one point or another. We have 10 showings a day but we will possibly add more depending on demand.”

And at Swindon’s other Cineworld at Shaw Ridge, operations manager Neil Savage said: “We have had bookings in the 2,000-2,500 ballpark. The booking figures have been phenomenal.

“We’ve got three screens on it and we will add a fourth today and Saturday evening. We have ten showings a day but there are still spaces available if people have not booked yet.”