AMERICAN SNIPER shatters January box office records

American Sniper

Wow. Did anyone see this coming?

This past weekend saw the wide theatrical release of the new Bradley Cooper-starring film, AMERICAN SNIPER, and it blew past all expectations. Before now, the record for largest January opening weekend of all-time belonged to last year’s RIDE ALONG ($41.5-million), but AMERICAN SNIPER nearly doubled that during the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, bringing in an estimated $90.2-million at the domestic box office.

That opening sum is absolutely unheard of for a January film — nevermind a rated-R film that doesn’t star a lead in a superhero costume. With no 3D release, it’s quite astonishing to see this amount of money that’s been brought in by AMERICAN SNIPER.

There’s a few reasons why it may’ve been this successful. First, the film’s directed by Clint Eastwood and he usually has a fanbase that follows all of his films. Then there’s the fact that Cooper has been promoting this film almost everywhere, revealing how much this film means to him. With a slew of Academy Award nominations last week, it’s clear that critics and audiences are loving this film. Hi-Def Ninja’s own Media Insider ‘Wreck’ even reviewed the film yesterday, declaring that it’ll “rock you to your core!”

I personally think that it’s refreshing to see an original film — especially one this special — be this successful at the box office. This is certainly a wonderful start for what’s surely to become one of the biggest money-making years in box office history.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUjfjC3uEUU

About the author

NINJA | Ken loves comics, video games, and film -- especially creature features and giant monster flicks. When he's not stalking the shadows as part of the Ninja Clan, he spends his time obsessively collecting ThunderCats, King Kong, and Pacific Rim memorabilia.