Weekend Box Office Report: January 23-25, 2015

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Another bullseye for American Sniper!

For a second weekend, audiences supported Bradley Cooper's military sharpshooter to put AMERICAN SNIPER at the top of the box office with an estimated $64.3 million!

After breaking records with its opening last week, the Oscar-nominated war movie only lost 28% of business in its second weekend. That kind of staying power is a rare and remarkable feat, particularly for an R-rated release — the last R-rated movie to display similar impact was Mel Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST in 2004 (it ultimately reached $370 million domestic). On more than 3700 screens, SNIPER is also the widest R-rated release in history.

Additionally, its $200.1 million 10-day domestic total (plus another $47.5 million from international crowds) easily makes it Clint Eastwood's most successful directing effort, shooting past GRAN TORINO's $148 million finish.

Judging by the releases next week, AMERICAN SNIPER should have no difficulty gunning down the competition for a third weekend, and it already stands a good chance of becoming one of 2015's biggest moneymakers (although it technically was released in 2014).

Opening in second place was the new Jennifer Lopez erotic thriller THE BOY NEXT DOOR with $15 million. The R-rated movie from director Rob Cohen (THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS, xXx) reportedly cost only $4 million, so it's already a relative success. But considering the response from critics (13% on Rotten Tomatoes) and crowds ('B-' CinemaScore), it won't be in the neighborhood too long.

The adventurous bear named PADDINGTON kept his spot in third with another $12.3 million, a decent hold of just 34% down from its opening last week. Kevin Hart's R-rated comedy THE WEDDING RINGER slipped from its second place debut last week down to fourth with $11.6 million, a drop of 44%.

TAKEN 3 went down a notch to fifth place with $7.6 million, and is on track to ending up as the weakest entry in Liam Neeson's series domestically. THE IMITATION GAME retained its sixth place slot, and with a $60.6 million total it now has the second-highest gross of the Oscar Best Picture nominees.

The new computer-animated family feature STRANGE MAGIC opened in seventh with $5.5 million. The musical fantasy from Lucasfilm (from a story by Lucas himself) didn't seem to spark any magic with the critics (11% on Rotten Tomatoes) or the audiences that turned up ('B-' CinemaScore).

Oscar Best Picture nominee SELMA dropped from its fifth place nationwide opening last week down to eighth with $5.5 million. And Johnny Depp's latest starring vehicle MORTDECAI opened way down in ninth with just $4.1 million. Depp's marquee luster has been fading for a while, but his R-rated mustachioed antics (carrying a $60 million budget) couldn't even pull in half of previous flop TRANSCENDENCE's $10.8 million opening.

Critics trimmed Depp's globetrotting facial hair with 12% on Rotten Tomatoes, while paying customers gave him the cold shoulder with a 'C+' CinemaScore. It remains to be seen if Depp's international fans turn out this time. At least his other recent work in the fairy tale musical INTO THE WOODS is still in the Top 10 after five weeks in theaters, the only Christmas Day release still on the list.

Outside the chart, we parted with UNBROKEN, THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES, and Michael Mann's cyber-thriller BLACKHAT after just one week in the Top 10. The Jennifer Aniston drama CAKE was released onto 482 screens for a $1 million take, and THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 officially passed GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY as the biggest domestic release of 2014 (but its $334.3 million is a great distance from CATCHING FIRE's $424 million tally).

Next weekend brings the found-footage sci-fi thriller PROJECT ALMANAC, the Kevin Costner drama BLACK OR WHITE, and the R-rated thriller THE LOFT, plus a limited release of Jason Statham's WILD CARD.

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