Clint Eastwood's American Sniper is smashing records at the North American box office, where it's now projected to earn $75 million or more over the long Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, well ahead of expectations.
That would mark the largest opening of all time for the month of January, as well as for a modern-day war movie. To boot, it is one of the top nationwide debuts for an R-rated title. Friday's take alone was an estimated $28 million-$30 million, including $5.3 million from late-night Thursday runs.
The war film, galvanizing moviegoers in both red states and blue states, is expanding nationwide after nabbing six Oscar nominations on Thursday, including best picture and best actor (Bradley Cooper). From Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow, Sniper is easily poised to score the biggest wide opening of Clint Eastwood's career as a director.
American Sniper, based on the real-life story of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, first debuted Christmas Day in four theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Dallas (Kyle was from Texas). The $60 million movie, earning nearly $4 million in its limited run, continues to be unique in appealing to both art house audiences as well as more politically conservative moviegoers.
To date, Gran Torino ($29.5 million) is Eastwood's top opening as a director, while Kevin Hart's Ride Along, released a year ago on the same weekend, boasts the top opening for January with a three-day debut of $41.5 million. It's four-day take was $48.6 million.Once again taking advantage of the MLK holiday, Hart returns to theaters this weekend in The Wedding Ringer, from Screen Gems. In an unexpected development, the R-rated comedy is finding itself in a close race with family film Paddington for the No. 2 spot. If Friday numbers are any indication, both films could gross in the $23 million range for the four-day weekend (some even have Paddington beating Wedding Ringer).
Hart stars opposite Josh Gad in Wedding Ringer, which cost a modest $23 million to make and hopes to serve as counterprogramming to other holiday titles and be a date-night offering. Still, Sniper is posing tough competition when it comes to adult attention.
The Weinstein Co. is handling Paddington in the U.S. Based on the iconic bear, the critically acclaimed British film has already launched in the U.K. and other foreign markets, grossing an outstanding $122.2 million to date.
Also opening this weekend is Legendary's Blackhat, director Michael Mann's big-budget action-thriller about a cyberattack on worldwide banking systems that the U.S. and China try to stop.
Despite its topicality in light of the hacking of Sony (reportedly by North Korea) and the star power of Chris Hemsworth, Blackhat is quickly proving to be the first box office bomb of 2015. The action thriller may not even clear $5 million in its four-day debut, a major stumble considering its $70 million production budget, and possibly putting it at No. 10. Universal is distributing Blackhat for Legendary per their partnership. Tang Wei, Viola Davis, Holt McCallany and Wang Leehom also star.
American Sniper is among a number of awards contenders that could enjoy a box-office boost. On the heels of Julianne Moore's best actress win at the Golden Globes for Still Alice, Sony Pictures Classics is opening the Alzheimer's drama this weekend in 13 theaters in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
Ava DuVernay's Selma, heading into its second weekend in nationwide release, is another Oscar contender hoping for a box-office bump. It also hopes to benefit from the MLK holiday.
Selma is poised to come in No. 5 over the holiday weekend with a four-day gross in the $11.5 million range, bringing its domestic total to roughly $29 million. Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment and Oprah Winfrey produced the drama, starring David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King. Jr. Paramount is distributing the film in North America.
Nabbing eight Oscar nominations, TWC's The Imitation Game will grow its domestic cume to north of $50 million through Sunday after hearty weekend earnings of roughly $7.7 million. The biopic, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and now in its eighth weekend, is poised to come in No. 7.
Back in the top five, Fox holdover Taken 3, starring Liam Neeson, will take the No. 4 spot with an estimated four-day gross of $18 million, putting its 10-day domestic total at a strong $67 million.
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