14 DAY TRIAL // Bradley Cooper and Clint Eastwood have been reaping a lot of praise from the critics for “American Sniper,” the film based on the life of late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, also dubbed the deadliest sniper in US history. It opened wide over the Martin Luther King holiday to record ticket sales.
“American Sniper” is now the biggest winter opener of all times, debuting to $90.2 million (€78 million) and expecting to make $105 million (€90.8 million) throughout the extended Luther King holiday weekend. This puts it on equal footing to a superhero movie opening in the summer.
“American Sniper,” the little engine that could
“American Sniper” is Clint Eastwood’s biggest opener of all time, but also the highest-selling R-rated movie released in January. Add to that the fact that the film also scored no less than 6 nominations at the Oscars 2015, including for Best Picture and Best Actor for leading man Bradley Cooper, and you’re looking at a certified winner.
Considering how smart Warner Bros. was about the marketing for the film, it’s no wonder it fared so well, Variety reports.
It wasn’t just the Oscar nominations that convinced people to give it a shot when it opened wide in US theaters, but also the positive word of mouth it had been getting for weeks, because of limited releases in select theaters.
Instead of just opening wide at once, Warner released “American Sniper” on limited screens throughout the country and then just let social media do the rest of the heavy lifting.
Chris Kyle might be a controversial figure if you dig deep enough into his story, but he is considered a national hero by most. This helped too in making the movie the insane hit that it was, despite being made on a budget of almost $60 million (€51.7 million).
As per the aforementioned trade publication, estimates had its debut somewhere around $40 million (€34.5 million).
A cultural phenomenon
The most recent movie to deliver such a surprise performance at the box office was Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and that was a superhero film (i.e. almost a sure blockbuster), had received many millions of dollars in marketing, and came out over the highly lucrative summer blockbuster season.
For “American Sniper” to pull a similar feat is amazing and completely unexpected, which is what makes it, as Warners puts it, a cultural phenomenon. “It tore apart the record book and not by a little. By an enormous amount,” Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. head of domestic distribution, says.
