Weekend Box Office Report: January 16-18 2014

By Kip Mooney • On • In News News 0

 BOX OFFICE REPORT 

January 16-18, 2015(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 51. American Sniper (90.2 million)2. The Wedding Ringer ($21.0 million)3. Paddington ($19.2 million)4. Taken 3 ($14.0 million)5. Selma ($8.3 million)

Exceeding even the wildest expectations, American Sniper finally opened in wide release with a nearly unbelievable $90.2 million. That's the biggest January opening ever, and just behind The Matrix Reloaded as the biggest R-rated opening ever. The film surely benefitted from its six Oscar nominations, but even more from America's love of Bradley Cooper and the military.

The Wedding Ringer also did well, just not in comparison to American Sniper. The comedy marks Kevin Hart's fourth straight film to open with more than $20 million. It's going to be America's only option for laughs for a while "” except Mortdecai, and no one's going to see Mortdecai "” so audiences will continue to come to this well for the next few weeks, especially after going through the emotional wringer with American Sniper.

Paddington, despite that teddy bear's creepy eyes, gave families something to see this weekend (all other major releases were rated R). It debuted with $19.2 million and could make more than The Wedding Ringer by Tuesday since many kids will be out of school for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. That was even better than the second wide weeks of Taken 3 and Selma, both of which fell more than expected.

Outside the top 5: - This Weekend's Indie Champ: Still Alice, Julianne Moore's heart-wrenching Alzheimer's drama. It averaged $17,667 on 12 screens. It previously opened very briefly to qualify for this year's Oscars, earning Moore a nomination for Best Actress.

- Blackhat, Michael Mann's stylish but stupid hacking thriller, debuted all the way down in 10th place with only $4 million. That's one of the worst openings of all time, especially compared with its $70 million budget. It also means it will probably be even longer until we get another film from Michael Mann, which is a real shame. 

- Of all the freshly minted Oscar nominees, Boyhood (Best Picture and five others) did the best. Adding more than 100 screens in its re-release, even as the film hit home video, it's up more than 1,000 percent from last week. Other films up more than 100 percent from last week: Leviathan (Best Foreign Language Film); Two Days, One Night (Best Actress); Whiplash (Best Picture and four others); and Birdman (Best Picture and eight others). 

Next week: I'd expect to see the top three in the same order, as the new choices don't inspire much confidence: Jennifer Lopez's erotic thriller The Boy Next Door, Johnny Depp's Pink Panther knock-off Mortdecai and the George Lucas-produced animated film Strange Magic. That leaves American Sniper at No. 1 with $40 million at least.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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