Audiences can't get enough of the steamy romance — and marriage, now — of Christian and Anastasia Grey, as the third Fifty Shades film has succeeded in bringing in close to $40 million for its first weekend in theaters while marking a huge milestone for the franchise in the process.

Including this $38.8 million domestic gross, Fifty Shades Freed is set to make nearly $140 million over the course of its opening weekend on an international scale. That sum, added to the earnings of 2015's Fifty Shades of Grey and 2017's Fifty Shades Darker, pushes the global total of the franchise past $1 billion.

Considering the lead character's insanely prolific fortune and the lavish excess that decorate the movies, this is an all-too-appropriate number for a priceless love story. The fact that the third Fifty Shades installment offers tons of new material for dedicated fans doesn't hurt, either: Jamie Dornan croons "Maybe I'm Amazed" as a smitten Christian at the piano at one point, and the Grey wedding alone is enough to send even the most bashful of viewers to the theater to overcome their curiosity.

Valentine's Day definitely came early this year, so congrats to the Fifty Shades Freed cast who got a way better gift with these box office numbers than your typical flowers and chocolates fare.