Box office top 20: ‘American Sniper’ hits $107 million

In this image released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Kyle Gallner, left, and Bradley Cooper appear in a scene from "American Sniper." The film is based on the autobiography by Chris Kyle. (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures) In this image released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Kyle Gallner, left, and Bradley Cooper appear in a scene from "American Sniper." The film is based on the autobiography by Chris Kyle. (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures)

By Associated Press January 20, 2015 2 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – The record wide-release opening of “American Sniper” was even bigger than estimated. Clint Eastwood’s war drama took in $107 million over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

The result is the biggest January weekend ever and easily the top debut for Eastwood. The film had played in very limited release two weeks before exploding nationwide.

“American Sniper” was trailed by two new releases: the animated adaptation “Paddington” ($25.5 million over four days) and the Kevin Hart comedy “The Wedding Ringer” ($24 million). Michael Mann’s cyber-thriller “Blackhat” flopped with $4.5 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by Rentrak:

1. “American Sniper,” Warner Bros., $107,007,215, 3,555 locations, $30,100 average, $110,431,993, 4 weeks.