Blockbusters don't come this early in the year? Or do they?
American Sniper topped Friday with a HUGE $30.5 million. That's far ahead of Lone Survivor's $14.4 million opening Friday and more than what Unbroken earned on its opening weekend. While Sniper certainly was boosted by its six Oscar nominations on Thursday, no one saw it going this high. Solid [though unspectacular at 73% on Rotten Tomatoes] reviews and a rare "A+" CinemaScore will aid this greatly. I think Sniper will drop slightly on Saturday to around $25-$26 million, then fall off a little harder on Sunday and Monday due to NFL Playoffs. Regardless, I'm projecting a massive $75 million over the three-day weekend, and $88 million over the extended frame. If Sniper holds even stronger on Saturday or perks up Monday, it has a realistic shot at reaching $100 million by Monday.
The Wedding Ringer debuted in second place with respectable results at $7 million on Friday. While that's only half of last year's January record-setter Ride Along, its still not a bad result (one thing should be noted this is an R-rated movie, while that other movie was PG-13). If Ringer plays out like Ride Along, it should reach $20 million by Sunday and around $24 million by Monday. Wedding Ringer had generally negative reviews (34% on Rotten Tomatoes), but a solid "A-" from CinemaScore.
Paddington got off to a good start on Friday, pulling in $4.7 million. That almost mirrors The Nut Job's $4.8 million start on this same Friday last year, which would go on to earn nearly $26 million by Monday. With fantastic reviews (98% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a "A" CinemaScore, this should play similarly, if not slightly less ($25 million for the four-day stretch.
Taken 3 fell 71% from last Friday to $4.3 million, and should find its way to the high-teens millions for the four-day weekend. After not getting as much Oscar attention as many were hoping, Selma was off 38% to $2.4 million, but should get past $10 million by the end of the extended weekend thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. Day being Monday.
The other new release, Blackhat, flopped in eighth place with $1.4 million, and will probably top out at around $5.5 million by Monday, way behind expectations.
Just a reminder on Friday guidelines, I post a Friday report whenever there's an extended weekend, or in a time when a movie opens to $20 million or more on Friday.
