American Sniper Takes Out Competition
In only its second weekend of wide release, Warner Bros. Pictures’ American Sniper continued to dominate the box office last weekend with a first place take of $64.37 million. In the process, the Clint Eastwood directed Best Picture nominee starring Bradley Cooper surpassed the $200 million domestic mark. American Sniper was down just 28 percent from the previous weekend. That represented an extremely impressive second weekend hold, especially for a film with grosses of this magnitude.
Without adjusting for ticket price inflation, American Sniper registered the eighth largest second weekend gross of all-time. It also registered the third largest January weekend gross of all-time behind only its own performance last weekend and the third weekend performance of Avatar in 2010. With $200.14 million after just 10 days of wide release, American Sniper is in great position to zoom past the $300 million milestone going forward.
The Boy Next Door debuted in second place last weekend with $14.91 million. Universal Pictures’ low-budget thriller starring Jennifer Lopez performed towards the higher end of expectations. The film was off to a good start, especially with its low production budget in mind. The Boy Next Door opened 22 percent ahead of the $12.20 million start of 2010’s The Back-Up Plan, which also starred Lopez
The news was far worse for the weekend’s other two wide releases as Disney’s Strange Magic and Lionsgate Entertinment’s Mortdecai were both dead on arrival. As was the case with Universal’s Blackhat the previous weekend, Strange Magic and Mortdecai both had a problem finding an audience due in large part to the breakout performance of American Sniper and with poor critical reviews for both films also not helping.
Strange Magic debuted in seventh place with $5.50 million. The computer animated film written and executive produced by George Lucas debuted below its already modest pre-release expectations.
Mortdecai landed in ninth place with $4.20 million. Unlike Strange Magic, the comedy starring Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow had been expected to have somewhat of a presence at the box office last weekend, due in part to strong levels of online buzz. But it failed to live up to expectations. Audiences have clearly lost interest in Depp, especially when it comes to his non-event film roles.
Paddington took third place with $12.27 million. The family film from The Weinstein Co. was down 35 percent from the previous weekend’s three-day start. That represented a nice second weekend hold, especially with the added direct completion from Strange Magic. Paddington has grossed a very solid $39.94 million in 10 days.
Sony Pictures’ The Wedding Ringer followed in fourth with $11.31 million. The modestly budgeted comedy starring Kevin Hart and Josh Gad was down a respectable 45 percent from the previous weekend. The Wedding Ringer has grossed $39.39 million in 10 days, which is on the lower end of expectations.
Twentieth Century Fox’s Taken 3 rounded out the weekend’s top five with $7.41 million. The third installment of the Liam Neeson led franchise was down a significant 50 percent from the previous weekend. Taken 3 has grossed $75.86 million in 17 days, which places the film 28 percent behind the $105.83 million 17-day gross of 2012’s Taken 2.
Best Picture nominees The Imitation Game and Selma claimed sixth and eighth place with estimated takes of $6.95 million and $5.42 million respectively. With aid from expanding into an additional 414 locations, The Weinstein Co.’s The Imitation Game was up a strong 2 percent over the previous weekend. Paramount Pictures’ Selma fell 38 percent from the previous weekend, due in part to the previous weekend’s performance having been inflated by the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Respective total grosses stand at $60.45 million for The Imitation Game and at $39.14 million for Selma.
This Week | Last Week | Movie | Weekend Gross | Cumulative Gross | Weeks |
1 | 1 | American Sniper | $64.63M | $200.40M | 5 |
2 | N/A | The Boy Next Door | $14.91M | $14.91M | 1 |
3 | 2 | Paddington | $12.27M | $39.94M | 2 |
4 | 3 | The Wedding Ringer | $11.31M | $39.39M | 2 |
5 | 4 | Taken 3 | $7.41M | $75.83M | 3 |
6 | 3 | Imitation Game | $6.97M | $60.45M | 7 |
7 | N/A | Strange Magic | $5.50M | $5.50M | 1 |
8 | 5 | Selma | $5.42M | $39.14M | 5 |
9 | N/A | Mortdecai | $4.20M | $4.20M | 1 |
10 | 6 | Into the Woods | $3.88M | $121.49M | 5 |
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.