Yikes! I was gabbing with Ryan this week about box office projections (yes…this is what we talk about in real life) and we both scoffed at the lofty box office projections of American Sniper. I thought maybe….maybe, the film could hit the upside of matching Sole Survivor’s $120M. I honestly thought it would finish its run with $80-90M unless it won Best Picture. Ryan even took the Under on that call. Well, I was right about the $90M number….if I predicted that for OPENING WEEKEND!
American Sniper SMASHED the January single weekend record. Heck, it broke the DECEMBER and FEBRUARY numbers. The Geeks predicted that 2015 would be a record year because of the blockbusters starting in May. We darn sure didn’t factor in a record January to kick things off. Between Taken 3 and Sniper, things are looking hot already! There were so many sell outs this weekend of Sniper, that Ryan had to see it at a such a questionable theater that you go in at peace with the idea that someone may harvest one of your organs.
In non-Sniper news:
- The Wedding Ringer, #2 this week, finished with $21M, which was lower than the SUNDAY take of Sniper.
- Paddington opened at a close #3 with $19. Not bad given that this movie will be big in Europe.
- Taken 3 dropped a whopping, and deserved, 64% to haul in $14M.
- Selma, whose expansion weekend felt like a disappointment, held steady with $8M. Nice hold there for a film deserving an audience.
- Speaking of nice holds, Imitation Game continues to avoid a drop week after week, bringing in the same $7M.
- Thor is not very strong without his hammer, apparently. Hacker thriller Blackhat, starring Chris Hemsworth, limped to the barn with only $4M!
Gabbing Geek 