Weekend Box Office: ‘Paddington’ Holding Strong in Week 2, ‘Strange Magic’ Flounders

American Sniper took the box office by storm in its second weekend with $64.4 million. The war drama, based on the real life of Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, has so far shattered box office records for January. The film’s earnings declined only 28% from last weekend, and no other movie came even close to touching it. There has been a bit of controversy surrounding the possible glorification of violence in the film, but that seems to have had little impact on the box office performance. The film has garnered six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor In a Leading Role (Bradley Cooper), which have no doubt been behind some of the film’s success.

Coming in second with a big drop from American Sniper’s $64.4 million is The Boy Next Door, which took in $14.9 million. The Jennifer Lopez thriller seems to have done okay considering a low $4 million dollar budget and very dismal critical reviews. The film has a low 11% critic approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a B- on CinemaScore.

Paddington came in third with $12.2 million in its second week. This film adaptation of the classic Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond has been met with surprisingly fantastic critical acclaim with a 98% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and A on CinemaScore.

Kevin Hart comedy The Wedding Ringer took fourth place this weekend with $11.3 million. The film, which is in its second weekend, has received a not so good 34% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, its A- on CinemaScore shows that audiences feel differently.

Taken 3 made $7.4 million, landing the action-thriller in fifth place for its third weekend.

1. American Sniper – $64.7 million
2. The Boy Next Door – $14.9 million
3. Paddington – $12.3 million
4. The Wedding Ringer – $11.3 million
5. Taken 3 – $7.4 million
6. The Imitation Game – $6.9 million
7. Strange Magic – $5.5 million
8. Selma – $5.4 million
9. Mortdecai – $4.2 million
10. Into the Woods – $3.9 million

Other notable films in the top ten include Strange Magic and Mortdecai, both of which opened this weekend. Strange Magic, billed as a brainchild of George Lucas, failed quite miserably on both critical and monetary spectrums. The film took in only $5.5 million and received a measly 18% critic approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The Johnny Depp led Mortdecai failed financially and critically as well, only making $4.2 million and earning a dismal 11% on Rotten Tomatoes. This proved to be a giant flop, especially taking the film’s $60 million budget into account. However, the more critically acclaimed The Imitation Game, Selma, and Into the Woods are still hanging in there, in their ninth, fifth, and fifth weeks respectively.

Edited by: Morgan Stradling