‘American Sniper’ Smashes Records With $90M Weekend
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Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper ignited the holiday weekend box office, leaving January records behind as it made a stunning $90.2 million in three days.
The total easily topped the previous January high, James Cameron’s Avatar at $68 million in 2010. Warner Bros. estimates that American Sniper will make $105 million over the four-day Martin Luther King weekend, which would be another record.
“This is staggering. It’s blockbuster numbers in January, the sort of numbers usually reserved for summer films and superhero movies,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst for Rentrak. “No one saw this coming. The film has been building an audience and blasting any projections all weekend.”
The $105 million tally is more than double what analysts were expecting, Dergarabedian says. It marks director Eastwood’s biggest debut, surpassing Gran Torino, which earned $29.5 million in 2008. American Sniper topped that with Friday’s $30.5 million opening. The estimated IMAX total on 332 screens for the four-day weekend is $11.5 million (yet another record).
American Sniper, with Bradley Cooper starring as Navy SEAL sharpshooter Chris Kyle, initially opened in December to packed theaters in limited release — making nearly $3.4 million on a handful of screens in Los Angeles, New York and Dallas. It got a boost from Thursday’s Oscar nominations, receiving six, including best picture and Cooper for best actor.
The film has maintained a coveted A-plus CinemaScore with audiences throughout its release.
“American Sniper” tells the story of U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle who the military credits with the most confirmed kills of any marksman in American history.
