This past weekend can sometimes be a tough one for films in the States, as the Super Bowl eats up audiences on the Sunday that might otherwise be tempted out to the cinema. Still, that was clearly no challenge for American Sniper, which is continuing to break records and gross lots of money. The Bradley Cooper film earned $31.8 million, a new record for the Super Bowl weekend and is past $248.9 million in the States alone, according to studio estimates.
Clint Eastwood’s latest is looking like a possible challenger for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 as the highest-grossing film of 2014 and has snuck past The Matrix Reloaded to take the position as second biggest R-rated release in US history. The rest of the charts, a mixture of newcomers and current releases, had a tough time in its wake though. Paddington is proving to be an appealing family film, adding $8.505 million to its domestic box office total, which now stands at more than $50 million.
Project Almanac, directed by Dean Israelite and produced by Michael Bay, spun a tale of time-travelling teens that might end up challenging the cuddly bear in the final figures. The sci-fi story earned $8.5 million on its first weekend. Kevin Costner’s latest, the self-funded drama Black Or White overcame middling reviews to debut in fourth with $6.4 million. And sliding down the charts we find The Boy Next Door in fifth, taking home $6 million.
Sixth place went to The Wedding Ringer, itself falling from fourth place with $5.7 million, while **The Imitation Game **slipped one place to seventh with $5.1 million. **Taken 3 **dropped to eighth and $3.6 million, while George Lucas’s fantasy animation Strange Magic struggled in ninth with $3.4 million.
Finally, arriving after a prolonged delay and greeted largely by jeers, crime thriller** The Loft** flopped into tenth on its first weekend, making just $2.8 million despite opening on 1,841 screens.
To see Bradley Cooper march past time travelling teenagers in the full chart listings, head to Box Office Mojo.