I had a lot of problems with American Sniper as a movie about PTSD and veterans, but despite these issues it had a very good redeeming value of bringing Veteran issues to the forefront of the discussion in America. It seems a lot of people were interested in that as the film just became the top grossing movie of 2014, overtaking The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, which is an impressive feat for any movie that isn’t a remake or based on something that young adults read.
The R-rated drama made $337.2 million, pushing it well above Hunger Game‘s $336.8 million. These numbers are U.S. only of course. Globally nothing is going to topple Transfromers: Age of Extinction $1.1 billion since that film destroyed the Chinese market with all its China pandering. Still, I don’t think anyone would have expected American Sniper to be a true blockbuster. The studio definitely didn’t with a small December release for awards season and then a dump in January, but evidently Chris Kyle’s whitewashed story hooked America hard.
[via Variety]
