'American Sniper' Makes Record Breaking Box Office Weekend Haul With $105.3M

By Max Bonto, Christian Post Contributor Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Director Clint Eastwood's Iraq war drama "American Sniper" ended up exceeding expectations when it garnered $105.3 million over the four-day long Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

In total, "American Sniper" has so far garnered around $108.7 since its limited release on Christmas Day. It's an impressive debut for the film and its stars Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Luke Grimes, and company, especially compared to its $58 million budget.

Thanks to its big numbers, "American Sniper" is now the movie with the biggest January weekend release after surpassing the previous record of $67.5 million held by director James Cameron's 2010 film "Avatar." It also beat out comedy film "Ride Along" by Director Kevin Hart and its $48.6 million premiere to become the biggest film to debut during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

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Not only that, but it's become the biggest debut of Eastwood's career, a long way past the $29.48 million garnered by his "Gran Torino" in 2009.

The turnout also reared an impressive array of Oscar nominations, six in total including Best Picture and Best Actor for Cooper, who portrayed Navy SEAL Chris Kyle.

It's not doing so bad in the worldwide box office too, earning a total of $134.1 million

Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.' domestic distribution chief, called it "a cultural phenomenon and a perfect storm," as well as "the first 'real' superhero movie."

"If you would have told me we'd do these numbers, I would have replied that you were smoking something," he said.

Following after "Amrican Sniper" in second place is family film "Paddington" by Director Paul King and featuring the voices of Ben Whishaw Nicole Kidman, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins and more. It debuted with $25.2 million.

In third place is Director Jeremy Garelick's "Wedding Ringer," which stars Kevin Hart and Kaley Cuoco for a domestic debut of $24.5 million.