‘American Sniper’ Headed Towards $62 Million Weekend: Bill Maher Is Angry
American Sniper is a hit at the box office. Variety predicts the film will make around $62 million this weekend. Forbes describes just how much of a hit American Sniper has become.
“The top film of last Friday (and quite obviously the weekend) was again Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper. The Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. release earned another $18.325 million yesterday, which was a Friday-to-Friday drop of just 40%. It has now earned $154m domestic, including $14.5m in IMAX alone.”
According to Time, Bill Maher had some harsh words for the Navy SEAL that American Sniper is based on.
“On Friday night’s Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, the reliably cantankerous Maher suggested that Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL played in the film by Bradley Cooper, is a ‘psychopathic patriot.’ Maher also read excerpts from Kyle’s 2013 autobiography, the book on which the film is based, in which he called Iraqis savages.”
It appears American Sniper is critic-proof. Many fans on Twitter have praised the movie.
Everyone go see American Sniper. One of the most amazing films i have ever seen in my life.
— Bryce Verlinden (@BryceIsHEERRE) January 24, 2015
Just saw American Sniper. Bradley Cooper was amazing. It was stressful but very, very good. Thank you for your service, Chris Kyle.
— Christine Perkett (@missusP) January 24, 2015
CJ Johnson’s review of American Sniper for ABC summarizes what most people think of the main performances in this film.
“Cooper is fantastic. His performance is totally precise. The gradations he and Eastwood have chosen to show – of Kyle’s character, personality and disease – are perfectly graded. We really get a sense of a full man, and if that isn’t exactly the man Chris Kyle was, it’s certainly an indelible movie character. Sienna Miller provides strong support as his wife Taya.”
Clint Eastwood proves that being in your mid-eighties doesn’t prevent you from making a film that wows millions. Besides becoming a huge box office hit, American Sniper has earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor (Bradley Cooper). Clint Eastwood recently told The Toronto Star that American Sniper is being misunderstood by his critics.
“This picture was interesting, because I’m seeing it from the point of a person who was sort of an American hero, as far as his ability to be this ultra-sniper. And his family and his beliefs were very strong about defending the country and defending the guys who are defending the country, as a sort of an oversight warrior. It was an important story, but you have to embrace his philosophy if you’re going to tell a story about him.”
Perhaps much of the criticism of American Sniper is political; Clint Eastwood is a conservative activist in a very liberal movie industry. Did you see American Sniper? Tell us in the comments section.
[Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Films]
