Weekend box office: American Sniper looks to set the Super Bowl record

Brad Sturdivant February 1st, 2015

I should be over it by now, but I’m still amazed at how well AMERICAN SNIPER is still performing at the weekend box office. The Clint Eastwood directed film is now on pace to break the Super Bowl weekend record, assuming it can make more than $31.1 million. And what film currently holds that record? HANNAH MONTANA & MILEY CYRUS: BEST OF BOTH WORLDS CONCERT. So there’s that. I guess what makes it impressive is that Hannah Montana did it by targeting an extremely different crowd from the Super Bowl, while Sniper is doing it by basically attracting the same crowd. The new movies of the weekend haven’t fared very well with PROJECT ALMANAC leading the way and the misguided Kevin Costner film BLACK OR WHITE close behind with about $6 million.

Next week should be an interesting weekend. We have the science-fiction adventure JUPITER ASCENDING, starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis. If you’ll remember, JUPITER ASCENDING was originally slated for a summer release, but it was moved to February rather abruptly. Most pundits said that was a sure sign there was something wrong with the film, but we’ll get to see for ourselves on Friday. We also get the long delayed SEVENTH SON, which is another YA adaptation that stars Jeff Bridges. Finally, we get THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER, which I haven’t seen much advertising for, but I’m guessing if I were to turn on Nickelodeon, there would be plenty of ads. It’s a tough weekend to predict, but I’m going to have to go with JUPITER ASCENDING, even though it wouldn’t surprise me if AMERICAN SNIPER held on to the top spot. Note: the numbers below will be updated as they become final.

1. American Sniper $31.8m

2. Paddington $8.55m

3. Project Almanac $8.5m

4. Black or White $6.4m

5. The Boy Next Door $6m

6. The Wedding Ringer $5.7m

7. Imitation Game $5.1m

8. Taken 3 $3.6m

9. Strange Magic $3.4m

10. The Loft $2.8m

(Deadline)