Much like the real person who inspired the movie, the war drama "American Sniper" struck a lethal blow to its competition at the box-office with ruthless efficiency. The Clint Eastwood-directed awards contender starring Bradley Cooper earned an amazing $90.2 million in its first nationwide weekend. The film had been operating in limited release since December 25th, for awards eligibility reasons. Now the film opened in over 3,000 theaters and the results were spectacular and beyond even the most generous of projections. The Oscar buzz probably helped the film a lot after the announcement of its 6 nominations, including Best Picture. The film is now the highest grossing January debut, a record previously held by "Ride Along" with $41.5 million. "American Sniper" also grossed more in its first 3 days of wide release than "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" in its first 5 days. And Sniper had a budget estimated at around $58 million, compared to The Hobbit's $250 million.
But enough about Eastwood's behemoth, let's take a look at this week's other wide releases. The Kevin Hart comedy "The Wedding Ringer" also broke a record, even though it only grossed $21 million in its opening weekend. The film opened in second place, but it is now ranked as the No. 1 R-rated comedy debut for January. While the gross is not exactly spectacular, it's certainly a victory in the face of such tough competition, especially since "The Wedding Ringer" only cost $23 million to produce.
The family film "Paddington" took third place with $19.3 million and looks to have a decent run at the box-office in the upcoming weeks. The film fared much better overseas where it grossed $122 million.
But, as spectacular as the results may be for the above films, we also have a flop this week. Michael Mann's cybercrime thriller "Blackhat" starring Chris Hemsworth tanked with a dreadful $4 million versus a $70 million budget. It performed even worse than it was initially projected, but the studio is hopeful that the film will perform better in foreign markets.
New Wide Releases: "Blackhat", "The Wedding Ringer", "Paddington".
Biggest Drop : "Taken 3" (-64%)
Smallest Drop : "The Imitation Game" (-0.3%)
| Rank | Title | Weekend | Domestic | Foreign | Budget | Days |
1
|
American Sniper
|
$90.2M
|
$93.6M
|
$16M
|
$58.8M
|
25
|
2
|
The Wedding Ringer
|
$21M
|
$21M
|
N/A
|
$23M
|
3
|
3
|
Paddington
|
$19M
|
$19M
|
$122M
|
N/A
|
3
|
4
|
Taken 3
|
$14M
|
$62M
|
$97M
|
$48M
|
10
|
5
|
Selma
|
$8.3M
|
$25.9M
|
N/A
|
$20M
|
25
|
6
|
The Imitation Game
|
$7M
|
$50.7M
|
$40.8M
|
N/A
|
52
|
7
|
Into the Woods
|
$6.5M
|
$114M
|
$26M
|
$50M
|
25
|
8
|
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
|
$4.8M
|
$244.5M
|
$558.6M
|
$250M
|
33
|
9
|
Unbroken
|
$4.2M
|
$108M
|
$21.8M
|
$65M
|
25
|
10
|
Blackhat
|
$4M
|
$4M
|
$2.2M
|
$70M
|
3
|
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