'American Sniper' Takes Aim at American Moviegoers' Wallets

Riding high on a record-breaking limited run (it's the only live-action movie to hit a $140,000-plus per theatre average on multiple consecutive weekends) and six Oscar nominations (though, to paraphrase Mean Girls, none for director Clint Eastwood, byyyeeee!), American Sniper is poised to take out a trio of brand new movies when it expands from four screens to wide release this weekend.

Certainly, none of its competition has anywhere near American Sniper's buzz. First, there's The Wedding Ringer, costarring omnipresent actor Kevin Hart, whose 2014 comedy Ride Along currently holds the record for biggest January opening weekend with $41.5 million (though it's entirely possible that American Sniper could best it).

For the children, there's Paddington, which has been getting surprisingly (for this writer) good reviews considering the first look the Internet got at it generated a slew of comments about how creepily uncanny valley that bear is. Also, Nicole Kidman plays a sexy taxidermist. Tell me that you're not a little bit surprised at this movie's 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and its pair of BAFTA nominations, for Best British Film and Best Screenplay. Add in the holiday weekend and the relative lack of other film options for young children (the only holdovers in theatres are Annie and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, both of which will likely soon sink out of the top ten), and this Peruvian bear's adventures should do pretty well, at least by January standards.

Not getting such good reviews is Michael Mann's Blackhat, about a hacker (played by People's Sexiest Man Alive Chris Hemsworth) who must stop total world annihilation (dun dun DUNNNNN). It'll be lucky to get ten million dollars stateside, though given the overseas setting for much of its action and its international cast, it should do better in foreign markets (see: Transformers: Age of Extinction).

Foxcatcher expands from limited release this weekend, from 237 to 759 theatres. Its quintet of Oscar nominations should help it get to the $1 million mark. Among limited releases screening in New York and/or LA, we have the Bollywood Beauty and the Beast-esque I; Still Alice, which netted Julianne Moore an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of a professor with early-onset Alzheimer's; Appropriate Behavior, from writer/director/actress Desiree Akhavan, being touted as "the next Lena Dunham"; and Human Capital, Italy's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar (though it wasn't nominated).