NEW YORK — The record wide-release opening of "American Sniper" was even bigger than estimated. Clint Eastwood's war drama took in $107 million over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
The result is the biggest January weekend ever and easily the top debut for Eastwood. The film had played in very limited release two weeks before exploding nationwide.
"American Sniper" was trailed by two new releases: the animated adaptation "Paddington" ($25.5 million over four days) and the Kevin Hart comedy "The Wedding Ringer" ($24 million). Michael Mann's cyber-thriller "Blackhat" flopped with $4.5 million.
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by Rentrak:
1. "American Sniper," Warner Bros., $107,007,215, 3,555 locations, $30,100 average, $110,431,993, 4 weeks.
2. "Paddington," The Weinstein Co., $25,494,139, 3,303 locations, $7,718 average, $25,494,139, 1 week.
3. "The Wedding Ringer," Sony, $24,042,152, 3,003 locations, $8,006 average, $24,042,152, 1 week.
4. "Taken 3," 20th Century Fox, $17,052,567, 3,594 locations, $4,745 average, $65,839,484, 2 weeks.