Fifty Shades of Grey: Edinburgh bondage classes

The big screen version of the erotic publishing phenomenon Fifty Shades of Grey is whipping cinemas into a frenzy – and unleashing a few novel ideas from local businesses.

A still from the film Fifty Shades of Grey. Picture: contributed

Despite some stinging reviews from the critics, the film based on the bestseller by EL James – which opens across the country today – has already sold out at cinemas across the Capital.

Tim Richards, CEO of Vue Entertainment International, has revealed has that almost 6000 tickets have already been sold for Fifty Shades of Grey at Ocean Terminal and the Omni Centre combined.

And he revealed that while there were plenty of couples going for Valentine’s Day they were also seeing a lot of demand from “threesomes”.

“Around 80 per cent of tickets are being bought by women and the majority are booked for screenings on the first three to four days of release, coinciding with the Valentine’s weekend,” he said.

“The average number of tickets being purchased per sale is three – suggesting groups of women are planning a night out with their friends to see the hotly-anticipated adaptation.”

Amy Nash, supervisor of Dominion Cinema in Morningside, said the film had already completely sold out for Valentine’s Day and for all three of the Friday evening performances.

And away from the movie, city businesses of all sorts were taking inspiration from one of the most talked about books of the last decade.

GoHen, which runs bondage sessions for hen parties, has launched bondage and dominatrix lessons in the Capital to cash in on the film’s success.

During the experience, a “friendly mistress” teaches leading hens the “basics of BDSM” including role play, spanking, foot and boot worship, restraints, humiliation and dungeons.

But hens will need a willing volunteer to practise on – so the group will provide “a semi-naked or naked personal slave” to act as whipping boy.

Poppy Ratcliffe, the company’s Head of Events, said: “Increasingly, hen parties are looking for new and adventurous activities for their parties. The overwhelming factor is always laughter and this is one package that is sure to guarantee giggles.

“The popularity of Fifty Shades means at GoHen we’re now offering dominatrix lessons in over 30 destinations and they’re proving a big hit with daring hens keen to share a few giggles.

“Edinburgh is so well known for its funny bones and artistic flair, the city struck us as an ideal destination to launch our new package for hens to have some good clean adult fun.”

Meanwhile, Edinburgh-based Furniture Medic has released a limited edition chair with some saucy extras which has been dubbed The Anastasia after book’s principal female character.

Furniture Medic Managing Director Ben Jones said he hoped the £899 sumptuous red leatherette with handcuffs would help couples spice up their sex life.

“This chair has been great fun to make and we hope that it will help couples re-create some of the scenes from the film and spice things up this Valentine’s weekend,” he added.