Your US BOX OFFICE report for 16th – 18th January
Last week, it was Taken 3 that was breaking new barriers, becoming the second biggest January opening in history. But this week, American Sniper blew that away.
Taking a whopping $90.2 million, American Sniper has shattered the record for biggest January opening. This is the biggest January opening, smashing Ride Along‘s $41.5 million and is the second biggest R-rating opening behind The Matrix Reloaded ($91.8 million). Beating out all expectations, this puts American Sniper among the big league openings like comic book franchises and summer blockbusters, and didn’t have the inflation of IMAX or 3D. The film also added $25.3 million worldwide, giving it a total of $118 million. Read our reviews here, here and here.
Shown on just a few screen less, Kevin Hart’s new comedy The Wedding Ringer took a distant second place this week with $21 million. This is the fourth movie in his career to open past the $20 million mark, but it is the lowest opening Hart has had and is half of what Ride Along made this time last year. Read our review here.
Taking third was another newcomer in the form of British movie Paddington. Due to the The Weinstein Company moving the movie from Christmas Day to January for less competition and positive word of mouth (the movie holds 98% on Rotten Tomatoes), Paddington took just slightly less than The Wedding Ringer with $19.2 million. With its foreign take, that gives the little bear a total of $141.4 million.
Last week’s number one, Taken 3, fell to fourth against the competition, and dropped 64% in the process to take $14 million. With talk of a Taken 4 as a possibility, it may not “end here” as Taken 3 now sits on $160.4 million worldwide. Read our review here.
But it was a bad opening for Michael Mann as his latest action movie Blackhat bombed at the weekend box office, taking just $4 million. The Chris Hemsworth starring project reportedly cost upwards of $70 million to make, though it only managed to bring in an average of $1, 570 per screen. This is not just the worst opening for Michael Mann since 1988’s Manhunter, but is among the worst openings across more than 2,000 screens of all-time (it’s 13th on the list). Read our review here.
Here’s your top 10 and their domestic totals:
| |Title| | |Weekend| | |Total| | |Wk(s)| | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Sniper | $90.2 million | $93.6 million | 4 |
| 2 | The Wedding Ringer | $21 million | $21 million | NR |
| 3 | Paddington | $19.2 million | $19.2 million | NR |
| 4 | Taken 3 | $14 million | $62.8 million | 2 |
| 5 | Selma | $8.3 million | $25.9 million | 4 |
| 6 | The Imitation Game | $7.1 million | $50.7 million | 8 |
| 7 | Into the Woods | $6.5 million | $114.2 million | 4 |
| 8 | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | $4.8 million | $244.5 million | 5 |
| 9 | Unbroken | $4.2 million | $108.6 million | 4 |
| 10 | Blackhat | $4 million | $4 million | NR |
Last year’s number one – Ride Along ($41.5 million)
Originally published January 19, 2015. Updated November 29, 2022.
