Paramount Pictures’ The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water surprised in a big way last weekend with a very strong debut of $55.37 million. The 3D animated live-action hybrid film based on the long running animated series exceeded pre-release expectations. The film opened 73 percent stronger than the $32.02 million debut of 2004’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie without adjusting for inflation. Without adjusting for higher ticket prices, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water delivered the fifth largest opening weekend ever for the month of February behind 2004’s The Passion of the Christ, The Lego Movie, 2001’s Hannibal and 2010’s Valentine’s Day. With no real competition for family audiences throughout February, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water should hold up better going forward than The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie did in 2004.

The cast of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. (Photo: Paramount Pictures)

After leading the box office for the past three weeks, Warner Bros. Pictures’ American Sniper fell to second place last weekend with $23.29 million. The blockbuster Clint Eastwood directed film starring Bradley Cooper was down just 24 percent from the previous weekend’s performance, which was deflated by the Super Bowl. Last weekend’s hold for American Sniper was especially impressive given that the film lost its IMAX screens to Jupiter Ascending and Seventh Son. American Sniper has grossed a massive $281.39 million after 24 days of wide release. That ranks the film as the third highest grossing release of 2014 so far domestically and leaves the film just $18.61 million away from reaching the $300 million domestic milestone.

Fellow Warner Bros. release Jupiter Ascending debuted in third place with $18.37 million. The expensive 3D sci-fi film from The Wachowskis starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis debuted on the lower end of modest expectations. Jupiter Ascending was originally scheduled to open last July, but pushing the film back to February ultimately made little difference at the box office and likely hurt the film’s potential a bit.

While Jupiter Ascending at least had a presence at the box office last weekend, Universal Pictures’ Seventh Son didn’t. The pricey and long delayed fantasy film, which was originally to be released by Warner Bros., stumbled out of the gate with a fourth place debut of $7.22 million. Seventh Son debuted on the low end of expectations and represents yet another early 2015 release that audiences simply had no interest in joining the likes of Blackhat, Mortdecai and Strange Magic. It should be noted that Seventh Son has had much more of a box office presence overseas.

Project Almanac rounded out the weekend’s top five with $5.23 million. The low budget sci-fi thriller from Paramount was down just 37 percent from the previous weekend. Despite the nice second weekend hold, Project Almanac is still performing below pre-release expectations with a 10-day start of $15.66 million.

Paddington followed very closely behind in sixth with $5.22 million. The family film from The Weinstein Co. was also down 37 percent from the previous weekend, which represented a very solid hold, especially given the stronger than expected launch of . Paddington has grossed $57.12 million through 24 days of release.

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.

Cory Hardrict as “D”/Dandridge, Joel Lambert as Delta Sniper, Owain Yeoman as Ranger One, Tony Nevada as Recon Sniper, Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle and Brett Edwards as Recon Gunner in American Sniper. (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

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.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ American Sniper broke out in a big way over the long MLK Day weekend with a massive $107.21 million in its first four days of wide release. The Clint Eastwood directed Best Picture nominee starring Bradley Cooper had been building up major momentum leading up to its wide release and ultimately exploded out of the gate last weekend to a degree that nobody was expecting. With a three-day gross of $89.27 million, American Sniper easily established new opening weekend records for the Martin Luther King holiday weekend and for the month of January as it outpaced the $41.52 million take of previous record holder, last year’s Ride Along, by an astounding 115 percent. With the addition of a very strong performance in three weeks of platform release, which helped build up buzz for the film, American Sniper grossed $110.64 million through Monday.

Jake McDorman as Biggles and Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle (L to R) in American Sniper. (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

With no potential blockbuster performers arriving in the marketplace over the next two weeks, American Sniper is in position to continue to dominate the box office throughout the rest of January.

It was a tight race for second place between Paddington and The Wedding Ringer last weekend. While The Wedding Ringer placed in second over the three-day frame, Paddington moved into second place over the four-day frame.

Paddington took in respective three-day and four-day grosses of $18.97 million and $25.49 million. The family film from The Weinstein Co. debuted on the high end of expectations.

Sony Pictures’ The Wedding Ringer was off to a respectable start with respective three-day and four-day grosses of $20.65 million and $24.04 million. The modestly budgeted comedy starring Kevin Hart and Josh Gad opened on the low end of pre-release expectations. Potential for The Wedding Ringer was no doubt limited at least somewhat by the breakout performance of American Sniper with adult moviegoers.

On the heels of the previous weekend’s stronger than expected start 20th Century Fox’s Taken 3 was down three spots and a sharp 56.5 percent to land in fourth place with $17.05 million over the four-day weekend. Audience overlap with American Sniper has led to increased front-loading for Taken 3. The third installment of the Liam Neeson led franchise has grossed $65.84 million in 11 days. That places the film a reasonable 25 percent behind the $87.80 million 11-day take of 2012’s Taken 2.Taken 3 grossed $14.72 million over the three-day frame.

Selma rounded out the weekend’s top five with a four-day take of $13.85 million. The Best Picture nominee from Paramount Pictures was up a healthy 22.5 percent over the previous weekend’s three-day performance. The film was helped out this weekend by the Martin Luther King holiday — Monday’s $5.07 million performance represented an 86.5 percent increase over Sunday — and by its Best Picture nomination. Selma has grossed $31.51 million after 11 days of wide release. While Selma is performing softer than was widely anticipated, the film is still having a respectable run thus far with its modest price tag in mind.Selma took in $8.78 million over the three-day frame.

Four-day holiday weekend grosses for other Best Picture nominees included $8.02 million for The Weinstein Co. ‘s The Imitation Game, playing in 1,611 locations; $1.87 million for Fox Searchlight’s Birdman, playing in 471 locations; and $1.18 million for Focus Features’ The Theory of Everything, playing in 509 locations. Respective current total grosses stand at $51.62 million for The Imitation Game, at $28.59 million for Birdman and at $27.49 million for The Theory of Everything.