Friday Report: 'Sniper' Earns Huge $30.5 Million on Opening Day
After three excellent weeks in limited release, American Sniper expanded nationwide on Friday and earned a stunning $30.5 million.
This the largest single day ever in January; the previous record belonged to Avatar, which took in $25.8 million on January 2nd, 2010. It's also 77 percent higher than the previous opening day record, which belonged to Cloverfield ($17.2 million). Finally, American Sniper's opening was over twice as big as last year's Lone Survivor and Ride Along (both at $14.4 million).
With great word-of-mouth ("A+" CinemaScore), Sniper should play well through the rest of the weekend. Even if it takes a big drop against tough competition from the NFL conference championship games on Sunday, it should still wind up over $80 million for the three-day weekend.
If it plays like past Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend releases Contraband and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, it will reach $100 million on Monday.
In a distant second place, The Wedding Ringer opened to an estimated $7 million on Friday. That's around half as much as star Kevin Hart's Ride Along earned on the same day last year, and is also well below both Think Like a Man movies ($12 million). Still, it's a solid result that puts The Wedding Ringer on track to earn close to $25 million over the four-day weekend.
Paddington took third place with an estimated $4.66 million. That's just below last year's The Nut Job; if Paddington follows that movie's trajectory, it will wind up with around $25 million by Monday.
Coming off a surprisingly strong debut last weekend, Taken 3 plummeted 71 percent to an estimated $4.25 million on Friday. For the four-day weekend, the final installment in the popular action franchise will likely wind up between $16 and $18 million.
Selma rounded out the Top Five with an estimated $2.36 million, which is off 37 percent from last Friday. It should play well through the long weekend, particularly on Monday (which is a national holiday celebrating the main character of the movie).
Michael Mann/Chris Hemsworth hacker thriller Blackhat opened in eighth place with a terrible $1.4 million. That's in line with Hemsworth brother Liam's Paranoia ($1.3 million), and is below past Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend bomb The Last Stand ($2 million). Blackhat could wind up with less than $4 million over the three-day weekend, which would be one of the worst debuts ever for a movie playing in at least 2,500 locations.
Weekend Projections
1. American Sniper - $86 million ($101 million four-day)
2. The Wedding Ringer - $21 million ($24 million four-day)
3. Paddington - $18 million ($24 million four-day)
4. Taken 3 - $14 million ($16.5 million four-day)
5. Selma - $8 million ($10 million four-day)
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo, and follow author Ray Subers at @raysubers.
Related Stories:
• Forecast: 'Sniper' Sets Sights on January Record
Related Charts:
• Grosses for Friday, January 16, 2015
• 2014 Domestic Box Office
This the largest single day ever in January; the previous record belonged to Avatar, which took in $25.8 million on January 2nd, 2010. It's also 77 percent higher than the previous opening day record, which belonged to Cloverfield ($17.2 million). Finally, American Sniper's opening was over twice as big as last year's Lone Survivor and Ride Along (both at $14.4 million).
With great word-of-mouth ("A+" CinemaScore), Sniper should play well through the rest of the weekend. Even if it takes a big drop against tough competition from the NFL conference championship games on Sunday, it should still wind up over $80 million for the three-day weekend.
If it plays like past Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend releases Contraband and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, it will reach $100 million on Monday.
In a distant second place, The Wedding Ringer opened to an estimated $7 million on Friday. That's around half as much as star Kevin Hart's Ride Along earned on the same day last year, and is also well below both Think Like a Man movies ($12 million). Still, it's a solid result that puts The Wedding Ringer on track to earn close to $25 million over the four-day weekend.
Paddington took third place with an estimated $4.66 million. That's just below last year's The Nut Job; if Paddington follows that movie's trajectory, it will wind up with around $25 million by Monday.
Coming off a surprisingly strong debut last weekend, Taken 3 plummeted 71 percent to an estimated $4.25 million on Friday. For the four-day weekend, the final installment in the popular action franchise will likely wind up between $16 and $18 million.
Selma rounded out the Top Five with an estimated $2.36 million, which is off 37 percent from last Friday. It should play well through the long weekend, particularly on Monday (which is a national holiday celebrating the main character of the movie).
Michael Mann/Chris Hemsworth hacker thriller Blackhat opened in eighth place with a terrible $1.4 million. That's in line with Hemsworth brother Liam's Paranoia ($1.3 million), and is below past Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend bomb The Last Stand ($2 million). Blackhat could wind up with less than $4 million over the three-day weekend, which would be one of the worst debuts ever for a movie playing in at least 2,500 locations.
Weekend Projections
1. American Sniper - $86 million ($101 million four-day)
2. The Wedding Ringer - $21 million ($24 million four-day)
3. Paddington - $18 million ($24 million four-day)
4. Taken 3 - $14 million ($16.5 million four-day)
5. Selma - $8 million ($10 million four-day)
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo, and follow author Ray Subers at @raysubers.
Related Stories:
• Forecast: 'Sniper' Sets Sights on January Record
Related Charts:
• Grosses for Friday, January 16, 2015
• 2014 Domestic Box Office
