Second record weekend for 'American Sniper'

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Oscar-nominated Iraq War movie, starring Bradley Cooper as the legendary sniper Chris Kyle, earned $18.3 million at the box office on Friday.

For perspective, the next biggest movie in the United States this weekend is "The Boy Next Door," starring Jennifer Lopez. It is on track to make $16 million for the whole weekend.

"We continue to rewrite the record books," Dan Fellman, the president of Warner Bros. domestic distribution, said Saturday.

He said he'd make a projection for the whole weekend on Sunday morning. Outside analysts are predicting a haul of $61 million to $65 million. That would give "American Sniper" one of the top ten "second weekends" in Hollywood history.

Watch: Will 'Sniper' debate affect veteran's trial?

The movie has generated new conversation -- and controversy -- about the Iraq War and about Kyle, who was killed in 2013. On Friday night Bill Maher called Kyle a "psychopath patriot."

Movies make most of their money Fridays through Sundays. In its opening weekend, including the Martin Luther King Day holiday on Monday, "Sniper" made $105 million, setting a new record for a January movie release.

The movie continued to perform well all week long, invigorating Warner Bros., the studio division of Time Warner. CNN, the parent of this web site, is also owned by Time Warner (TWX).

"It feels like summer in January," Rentrak senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian said earlier this week.

"This film is swimming in blockbuster waters and generating numbers generally reserved for super-heroes and summer movies," Dergarabedian said.

The movie may go on to beat 2004's "The Passion of the Christ," which currently ranks as the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.

One sign of "American Sniper's" strength is the relatively small week-to-week drop-off in ticket sales. Movies like "Sniper" regularly see a 50% to 60% decline in week two. But the fall in ticket sales between the first and second Friday was only 40%.

Translation: "American Sniper' is still generating lots of interest.

Fellman said it was "the least percentage drop of any film that opened to an $85 million weekend or better."

The strong start for "American Sniper" was boosted by the Oscar nomination of star Bradley Cooper.

The movie was initially released in December to only two theaters in New York, one in Dallas, and one in Los Angeles.

The strategy, Fellman said, was to "get people to line up -- make it a hard ticket -- and have people see it in packed theaters."

The strategy worked, and there was widespread interest in the movie by the time it opened nationwide on January 16.

It wasn't a coincidence that the Academy Awards nominations were announced a day earlier. Cooper was nominated for best actor, and the movie was nominated for best picture. That gave "Sniper" even more momentum.

Controversies surrounding the movie have helped to sustain interest, even though some of the stories have been sharply negative.

Some people have celebrated the movie for its unflinching portrayal of combat in Iraq, while others have assailed it as war propaganda. The word "MURDER" was scrawled on one movie billboard near Hollywood.

Fellman, for his part, said the movie is open to interpretation: "Some people call it a war movie. Some people call it an anti-war movie."

--Molly Shiels and Frank Pallotta contributed reporting.

Related: Box office for 'Sniper' helps book sales

Related: Why it's a great time to be a filmmaker at Sundance

First Published: January 24, 2015: 2:51 PM ET

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