After opening in a handful of U.S. theaters in December in order to qualify for awards contention, Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper has now become the highest-grossing domestic release of 2014 with $337.2 million to date, knocking The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 down into second place.
“The heroic story of Chris Kyle just hit the zeitgeist,” states Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.’ executive vice president of distribution. “It doesn’t matter your politics — it’s a story that just touched everybody personally. It was a brilliant film from a brilliant director. All the stars aligned perfectly.”
Internationally, American Sniper has added a further $163 million for a global haul to date of $500.2 million, meaning it’s not going to trouble leaders at the worldwide box office chart for 2014, which is topped by Transformers: Age of Extinction on $1.091 billion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ONsp_bmDYXc
Originally published March 9, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
