Box office top 20: Clint Eastwood’s ‘American Sniper’ hits $107 million over holiday weekend

NEW YORK, N.Y. – 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 theatres Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theatre 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.

5. “Selma,” Paramount, $13,850,087, 2,235 locations, $6,197 average, $31,514,117, 4 weeks.

6. “Into The Woods,” Disney, $8,705,610, 2,758 locations, $3,156 average, $116,459,279, 4 weeks.

7. “The Imitation Game,” The Weinstein Co., $8,016,134, 1,611 locations, $4,976 average, $51,622,442, 8 weeks.

8. “The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies,” Warner Bros., $5,979,302, 2,220 locations, $2,693 average, $245,656,417, 5 weeks.

9. “Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb,” 20th Century Fox, $5,286,986, 2,437 locations, $2,169 average, $106,235,092, 5 weeks.

10. “Unbroken,” Universal, $5,022,265, 2,602 locations, $1,930 average, $109,364,895, 4 weeks.

11. “Blackhat,” Universal, $4,491,010, 2,567 locations, $1,750 average, $4,491,010, 1 week.

12. “Annie,” Sony, $2,991,855, 1,585 locations, $1,888 average, $83,171,867, 5 weeks.

13. “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1,” Lionsgate, $2,287,297, 1,221 locations, $1,873 average, $332,930,936, 9 weeks.

14. “The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death,” Relativity Media, $1,944,380, 1,392 locations, $1,397 average, $25,131,953, 3 weeks.

15. “Birdman,” Fox Searchlight, $1,870,471, 471 locations, $3,971 average, $28,596,464, 14 weeks.

16. “Wild,” Fox Searchlight, $1,735,872, 764 locations, $2,272 average, $33,291,325, 7 weeks.

17. “Spare Parts,” Lionsgate, $1,610,714, 440 locations, $3,661 average, $1,610,714, 1 week.

18. “Big Hero 6,” Disney, $1,596,968, 739 locations, $2,161 average, $216,615,498, 11 week.

19. “Inherent Vice,” Warner Bros., $1,364,597, 653 locations, $2,090 average, $6,680,541, 6 weeks.

20. “Foxcatcher,” Sony Pictures Classics, $1,186,187, 759 locations, $1,563 average, $10,111,447, 10 weeks.

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.