'American Sniper' box office latest news: Dominates with $200 million in earnings
NEW YORK -- Oscar-nominated war film "American Sniper" continued to punish the competition at U.S. and Canadian box offices over the weekend, selling a whopping $64.4 million in tickets, according to studio estimates.
The film, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper as a Navy Seal sharpshooter, has now taken in more than $200 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters since opening wide on Jan. 16.
But audiences continued to flock to see Eastwood's big hit, "American Sniper," which Warner Bros, the Time Warner Inc unit that released the film, has called a "cultural phenomenon" after it smashed records for a drama film opening.
In its second week of wide release, the film scored the third-biggest January weekend in U.S. box office history, according to tracking firm Rentrak, and is now playing in 3,755 theaters, the most-ever for an R-rated film.
Among a string of positive reviews for the war film were also some negative ones and adverse reactions. Cameron Williams of The Popcorn Junkie accused the film of jingoism, writing that it "bleeds red, white and blue in the worst ways." Actor Seth Rogen compared "American Sniper" to faux Nazi propaganda film "Nation's Pride," which was about a German sniper that killed 200 Allied soldiers. Michael Moore, the director most famously known for "Farenheit 9/11," said that he viewed snipers as "cowards."
"My uncle killed by a sniper in WW2. We were taught snipers were cowards. Will shoot u in the back. Snipers aren't heroes. And invaders are worse," he tweeted.
Newt Gingrich responded to Moore's controversial viewpoint, saying the director "should spend a few weeks with ISIS and Boko Haram. Then he might appreciate American Sniper."
"I am proud of our defenders," the former Republican presidential candidate added.
The Jennifer Lopez thriller "The Boy Next Door" finished in second place on its opening weekend with $15 million from Friday through Sunday. Family film "Paddington," based on the series of classic children's books about a loveable bear seeking a new home, came in third for a second consecutive week with $12.4 million.
Two other new releases, Disney's "Strange Magic" and the Johnny Depp comedy "Mortdecai," opened in seventh and ninth places respectively, earning just $5.5 million and $4.1 million.
Studio officials said Lopez's "The Boy Next Door," in which the star plays a teacher who engages in a reckless liaison with a teen-aged neighbor, outperformed expectations for an opening of around $12 million to $13 million.