American Sniper is #1 with a bullet!
Audiences were looking for a taste of war this weekend, putting AMERICAN SNIPER at the top of the box office with an estimated $90.2 million!
After an outstanding limited release (it collected $3.4 million since Christmas Day on just four screens), director Clint Eastwood's tense Oscar-nominated biopic fired into more than 3500 locations and gunned down the previous records for biggest January opening day and weekend, with an anticipated $105 million total including tomorrow's Martin Luther King holiday. (Another fact-based wartime action-drama, the Mark Wahlberg-starring LONE SURVIVOR, also found success last January.) It's also the second-biggest R-rated opening, behind THE MATRIX RELOADED.
Aside from his voice work as Rocket in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, which opened to $94.3 million, AMERICAN SNIPER easily marks the biggest opening for actor Bradley Cooper (who also produced the $60 million adaptation of Navy SEAL sharpshooter Chris Kyle's bestselling autobiography). It's also expected to become Eastwood's highest-grossing directorial effort — GRAN TORINO's $148 million domestic total is the current champ.
Critics hesitantly approved of the jingoism with a 73% average on Rotten Tomatoes, but moviegoers cheered the headshots with an uncommon 'A+' CinemaScore.
Kevin Hart's latest comedy had to settle for second place as his new R-rated THE WEDDING RINGER grabbed $21 million (on a modest $23 million reported budget). Hart's movie would've likely won on a weekend without such ballistic competition, but the opening instead came in below any of his starring roles last year (RIDE ALONG opened to $41.5 over this same weekend in 2014, and THINK LIKE A MAN TOO and ABOUT LAST NIGHT started with $29.2 million and $25.6 million respectively). Hart also got jilted by critics (32% on Rotten Tomatoes), although audiences said "Yes" with a decent 'A-' CinemaScore.
Opening in third place was the family-friendly PADDINGTON with $19.2 million. The PG-rated bear adventure, based on the popular children's books, was a hit with both critics (98% on Rotten Tomatoes) and crowds ('A' CinemaScore), and is already a blockbuster with international audiences.
Dropping to fourth was last weekend's winner TAKEN 3 with $14 million, a 64% plunge from its opening. Liam Neeson's skilled vindicator (who has collected $160 million worldwide) was followed by the (barely) Oscar-nominated Civil Rights drama SELMA with $8.3 million, a drop of just 26% from its first weekend in wide release. Fellow nominee THE IMITATION GAME continued calculating in sixth with another $7.1 million.
December holdovers INTO THE WOODS, THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF FIVE ARMIES and UNBROKEN filled out the list ahead of director Michael Mann's new cyber-thriller BLACKHAT, which was virtually ignored in tenth place with an opening of $4 million. The $70 million Chris Hemsworth vehicle got shut down by both critics (32% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (a dire 'C-' CinemaScore), although actual computer hackers gave it their endorsement.
Outside the chart, ANNIE, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB, THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2: ANGEL OF DEATH and THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 all disappeared, while out of the limited releases, the Julianne Moore Alzheimer's drama STILL ALICE had the best showing with an unmemorable $17k per-screen average.
Next weekend delivers the mustachioed Johnny Depp comedy MORTDECAI, the George Lucas-written computer-animated fantasy STRANGE MAGIC, and the Jennifer Lopez thriller THE BOY NEXT DOOR.
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| # | MOVIE TITLE | WKND $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Sniper | $90.2 M | $93.6 M |
| 2 | The Wedding Ringer | $21 M | NEW |
| 3 | Paddington | $19.2 M | NEW |
| 4 | Taken 3 | $14 M | $62.8 M |
| 5 | Selma | $8.3 M | $25.9 M |
| 6 | Into the Woods | $6.5 M | $114.2 M |
| 7 | The Imitation Game | $7.1 M | $50.7 M |
| 8 | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | $4.8 M | $244.5 M |
| 9 | Unbroken | $4.2 M | $108.6 M |
| 10 | Blackhat | $4 M | NEW |