Box Office Analysis & Recap: 'American Sniper' Breaks Super Bowl record
"American Sniper" has broken yet another record at the box office. The film scored the highest number gross for Super Bowl weekend.
The Clint Eastwood film nominated for six Academy Awards made $31.8 million and brought its total to $248 million. The previous record was held by "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" which opened in 2008 to $31.1 million. "American Sniper" is now on track to possibly end its run above $300 million. There are still a couple of weeks until the big awards ceremony and if it wins key awards that could help boost its gross.
In second place, "Paddington" continued to hold well as it made $8.5 million. Now at $50.5 million, the Weinstein Company family film has become the company's 10th highest grossing feature and could easily end its run near the $70 million mark.
In third place, "Project Almanac" underperformed. The Paramount film opened in 2,893 theaters and only grossed $8.5 million. The feature is the latest in a series of found footage films that have made less than projections indicated. "Project Alamanc" was most hurt by the fact that reviews were mostly negative and the film's look and premise seemed like something audiences had already seen.
"Black or White" had a better turnout. Although it opened in 1,823 theaters, the feature still managed to make $6.4 million. The Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner starrer was plagued with mostly bad reviews but its feel good premise was something audiences really got behind. Relativity picked up the film at the Toronto Film Festival where it obtained Oscar buzz. The company later opened the movie for one week hoping to receive Oscar nominations, but ended up being snubbed.
Jennifer Lopez's "The Boy Next Door" added another $6 million to its gross and has now made $24 million. Meanwhile, "The Wedding Ringer" continued its solid run and made $5.7 million, bringing its gross to $48 million.
The Oscar nominee "The Imitation Game" added another $5.1 million and brought its cumulative gross to $67.9 million. The drama is currently on track to surpass $100 million if it continues to play to solid word-of-mouth. The film is also one of the front-runners for the Academy Awards.
The weekend also saw two other new releases. "The Loft" opened in 10th place in 1,841 theaters and made a disastrous $2.8 million. The feature was panned by critics and received a small marketing push by Open Road Films. It is likely this film will dissipate quickly after the failed release.
A24 opened "A Most Violent Year" in wide release a month after its limited release. The film is currently playing in 818 theaters and made $1.7 million. After five weeks, the drama has only made $3.1 million. While reviews were solid and it won a number of awards, the film was expected to be an Oscar nominee. However, "A Most Violent Year" was snubbed. While the total is not a disaster, A24 is likely to cut the theater count quickly.
Warner Bros. released the last two episodes of "Game of Thrones" in theaters in IMAX. In 205 theaters, the marketing stunt made $1.5 million.
In limited release, the Oscar nominee "Timbuktu" made $50,000 in four theaters. That is equivalent to a solid $12,500 per theater average. However, it is far from stellar.
A number of Oscar nominees continued to play in limited release to solid results. "Birdman" added another $1.5 million and brought its total to $33 million. The dramedy is slated to become director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's highest grossing film ever. Depending on whether or not the film wins the Oscar, "Birdman" is still likely to end its runs with at least $40 million.
Meanwhile, "The Theory of Everything" added another $1 million in 805 theaters. The five-time Oscar nominee has already made $30 million and will end its Oscar run close to $35 million.
"Still Alice added 46 theaters to it theater count and made $622,000. The Best Actress nominated feature has already made $1.5 million and is looking to become an art house success.
Meanwhile "Two Days, One Night," which is also nominated for Best Actress, added 32 theaters. The IFC film brought in a stellar $165,000 to its gross. The feature has already made $611,000 and is likely to cross the $1 million mark by the end of its run.