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    “American Sniper” Sets Super Bowl Weekend Box Office Record With $31.9M

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2747 Views
    In this image released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Bradley Cooper appears in a scene from "American Sniper." (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures, Keith Bernstein)

    By Jake Coyle, Film Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    "American Sniper" shot down another box-office record: Its $31.9 million is the biggest Super Bowl weekend gross ever.

    According to studio estimates Sunday, the Clint Eastwood film narrowly surpassed the previous top Super Bowl weekend draw at the North American box office. The concert film "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" opened with $31.1 million against the NFL's big game in 2008.

    Hollywood often avoids competing with the Super Bowl as movie-going falls dramatically on Sunday, but "American Sniper" has proven an unlikely sensation. It has now made $248.9 million in six weeks (and only three weeks of wide release), making it the most lucrative war movie without adjusting for inflation. (The distinction was previously held by Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan.")

    The competition was thin, as Hollywood held off any high-profile releases, effectively ceding the weekend to football.

    The Weinstein Co. animated adaptation "Paddington" came in a distant second with $8.5 million in its third weekend. In a virtual tie with it was Paramount's found-footage, time-traveling thriller "Project Almanac."

    Made by Michael Bay's production company, Platinum Dunes, "Project Almanac" led a trio of new releases with modest box-office ambitions.

    "Black or White," a racially-charged custody drama that reteams Kevin Costner with "The Upside of Anger" director Mike Binder, opened in fourth with $6.5 million. Costner put up his own money to help finance the film, which Relativity Media distributed.

    Open Road's "The Loft," a much-delayed remake of a 2008 Dutch thriller directed by its original filmmaker, Erik Van Looy, attracted little interest. It made just $2.9 million.

    That wasn't much more than the $1.5 million pulled in by a package of TV reruns. The HBO series "Game of Thrones" earned that in 205 Imax theaters by showing previously aired episodes ahead of the April debut of the show's fifth season.

    Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

    1. "American Sniper," $31.9 million ($11.1 million international).

    2. "Paddington," $8.5 million.

    3. "Project Almanac," $8.5 million.

    4. "Black or White," $6.5 million.

    5. "The Boy Next Door," $6.1 million.

    6. "The Wedding Ringer," $5.7 million.

    7. "The Imitation Game," $5.2 million.

    8. "Taken 3," $3.7 million ($21.2 million international).

    9. "Strange Magic," $3.4 million.

    10. "The Loft," $2.9 million.

    ___

    Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak:

    1. "Chinese Running Brother," $35 million.

    2. "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," $22.4 million.

    3. "Taken 3," $21.2 million.

    4. "Big Hero 6," $20.1 million.

    5. "Boonie Bears Movie 2," $14.5 million.

    6. "American Sniper," $11.1 million.

    7. "The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water," $8 million.

    8. "The Theory of Everything," $7.5 million.

    9. "Kingsman: The Secret Service," $7.2 million.

    10. "Penguins of Madagascar," $7.1 million.

    Category:News
    Tags:American Sniperbox office



    Review: Rachel Morrison Makes Feature Directorial Debut With “The Fire Inside”

    Monday, December 23, 2024

    "The Fire Inside," about boxer Claressa "T-Rex" Shields, is not your standard inspirational sports drama, even if it feels like it for the first half of the movie.

    There's the hopeless dream, the difficult home life, the blighted community, the devoted coach, the training montages, the setbacks and, against all odds, the win. We've seen this kind of story before, you might think, and you'd be right. But then the movie pulls the rug out from under you: The victory is not the end. "The Fire Inside," directed by Rachel Morrison and written by Barry Jenkins, is as much about what happens after the win. It's not always pretty or inspirational, but it is truthful, and important.

    Sports dramas can be just as cliche as fairy tales, with the gold medal and beautiful wedding presented as a happy ending. We buy into it time and time again for obvious reasons, but the idea of a happy ending at all, or even an ending, is almost exclusively for the audience. We walk away content that someone has found true love or achieved that impossible goal after all that work. For the subject, however, it's a different proposition; Life, and all its mundanities, disappointments and hardships, continues after all. And in the world of sports, that high moment often comes so young that it might be easy to look at the rest of the journey as a disappointing comedown.

    Claressa Shields, played by Ryan Destiny in the film, was only 17 when she went to the 2012 London Olympics. Everything was stacked against her, including the statistics: No American woman had ever won an Olympic gold medal in the sport before. Her opponents had years on her. She was still navigating high school in Flint, Michigan, and things on the home front were volatile and lacking. Food was sometimes scarce... Read More

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