Clint Eastwood's movie "American Sniper" starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller set the record this weekend at the box office with $31.9 million, beating the $31.8 million record set by "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert" in 2008.
Despite the record, American Sniper actually took a dip in ratings from the previous weekend, which was down by 51 percent. The movie has so far grossed $249 million, which propels it to being the third highest-grossing movie of 2014 domestically by sometime next week.
American Sniper is a movie about the life of Chris Kyle, considered the most lethal sniper in American history. He has reportedly accomplished 160 confirmed kills (possibly more) throughout his career. Kyle is a well-known Christian and considered a "legend" in his field by his peers.
The family flick "Paddington" has grossed $8.5 million (down 31 percent) this weekend, though it has grossed around $50.5 million domestically since it opened two weeks ago. "Project Almanac" from Paramount meanwhile raked in $12 million.
The movie "Black or White," starring Oscar-winners Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer, has picked up since its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last September. It opened in 1,823 theaters on Friday and generated an estimated $6.5 million or $3,544 per location, which is considered the best per-theater average among the three new releases.
Jennifer Lopez's thriller "The Boy Next Door," co-starring Ryan Guzman took in $6.1 million, down 59 percent from its opening weekend. The comedy "The Wedding Ringer" got $5.7 million, down 50 percent with a domestic total of $48.1 million.
On the other hand, the Weinstein Company's Oscar contender "The Imitation Game" was shown in 377 extra theaters on Friday and took in $5.2 million, down 26% from last weekend with a domestic gross of $68 million.
Liam Neeson's "Taken 3" remains the highest grossing movie of the year with $81.4 million.
Lucasfilm's animated musical film "Strange Music" got $3.4 million in its second weekend, down by 37 percent. "The Loft," starring Karl Urban, James Marsden, Rachel Taylor, Matthias Schoenaerts and Wentworth Miller, opened in 1,841 theaters with only $2.9 million, or roughly $1,564 per location.
All the movies grossed approximately $82.3 million, which was $20-million higher than the recorded revenue last Super Bowl weekend when Ice Cube and Kevin Hart's "Ride Along" took the first place and Disney's "Frozen" was pushed back into second place.
