Clint Eastwood's movie American Sniper, which tells the story of America's most lethal sniper Christ Kyle, is considered a definite success, especially since it has just crossed over the $300 million box office mark.
It is now considered Warner Bros' fifth highest grossing film in domestic box office figures, just a little behind Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ($317 million). Number one is The Dark Knight ($533.3 million), followed by The Dark Knight Rises ($448.1 million), then Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($381 million).
American Sniper was produced by Warner Bros with Village Roadshow. It is the seventh Warner Bros release to cross $300M domestically, and one of only 50 films to ever pass the milestone, Deadline reported.
"This is an extraordinary accomplishment for a film," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros' domestic distribution EVP. "When it becomes the fifth-highest-grossing Warner Bros. film off all-time and it is one of 50 films in cinema history to cross that benchmark and we're still going - that tells you everything."
Warner Bros' rivals have slammed the war memoir as similar to a Marvel movie, despite debuting in the middle of winter, a time when most moviegoers prefer to stay at home.
But Goldstein said that the movie resonated so well with audiences because Kyle is a likable character, and many hail him as a hero. With so many bad things happening in the world right now, people are looking for stories of hope and inspiration. And American Sniper was able to provide that.
The movie was such as success that during its fifth week of release, American Sniper was deemed the top-grossing war movie of all time, even beating the $216.5M raked in by Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, which stars one of America's favourite actors Tom Hanks.
And just last week, it surpassed Matrix Reloaded as the second highest grossing R-rated film, and follows the 2004 film Passion of the Christ starring Jim Claviezel closely with $370.8 million.
The movie was also considered a worldwide success. Global box office numbers overseas have reached $389.8 million from countries such as France, Spain, Japan, Brazil and Mexico, among others.
"This film hit the culture in such a phenomenal way in all geographic, political, gender and age segments," said Goldstein. "Given the wave of patriotism in the midst of global events, American Sniper hit the zeitgeist at the right time."
The movie even earned six Oscar nominations, including best picture and best actor for Cooper.
