NORTH AMERICA: Weekend Actuals: 'American Sniper' Continues to dominate with $30.66M; 'Project Almanac' Starts Softly with $8.31M; 'Black or White' Lands in Fourth with $6.21M

By Daniel Garris

Warner's American Sniper dominated the box office for a third consecutive frame with $30.66 million this weekend. That represented the second largest unadjusted Super Bowl weekend gross ever (behind only the $31.12 million debut of 2008's Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour). The blockbuster Clint Eastwood directed film starring Bradley Cooper was down a sizable 53 percent from last weekend, as the film clearly took a hit this weekend from its target audience being focused on Super Bowl XLIX. American Sniper will likely re-stabilize next weekend with the Super Bowl now out of the way. The film has grossed a massive $247.75 million after 17 days of wide release. That places American Sniper a very impressive 46 percent ahead of the $169.56 million 17-day take of 2013's Gravity.

Paramount's Project Almanac was the weekend's top opener with a second place start of $8.31 million. That placed the low-budget sci-fi thriller a slim $42,388 ahead of Paddington this weekend. Project Almanac opened significantly below pre-release expectations, as it failed to spark much interest among moviegoers. Project Almanac opened a very disappointing 58 percent below the $19.88 million start of fellow Platinum Dunes film Ouija this past October. Project Almanac was likely hurt at least somewhat by having been delayed by nearly a year. On a positive note, Project Almanac did receive a B rating on CinemaScore, which is solid given the film's genre.

Paddington held steady in third place this weekend with $8.27 million. The well received family film from The Weinstein Company was down just 33 percent from last weekend. In addition to being aided by good word of mouth, Paddington also likely received an added boost this weekend from family audiences who wanted to catch the film before Paramount's The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water arrives in the marketplace next weekend. Paddington surpassed the $50 million mark this weekend and has grossed a very solid $50.30 million in 17 days.

Relativity's Black or White debuted in fourth with $6.21 million. The drama starring Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer opened towards the higher end of its modest expectations, as the film was able to find a bit of audience this weekend despite poor critical reviews. Black or White performed nearly identically to the $6.20 million start of Relativity's Beyond the Lights this past November. Black or White received an encouraging A- rating on CinemaScore, which suggests that the film is going over significantly better with moviegoers than it has with critics.

The Boy Next Door rounded out the weekend's top five with $6.08 million. Universal's low-budget thriller starring Jennifer Lopez was down three spots and a very sharp 59 percent from last weekend. The Boy Next Door has grossed a solid $24.67 million in ten days, but is likely to continue to fall off quickly going forward, especially with the upcoming release of Universal's highly anticipated Fifty Shades of Grey now in the near horizon.

Sony's The Wedding Ringer followed in sixth place with $5.69 million. The modestly budgeted comedy starring Kevin Hart and Josh Gad fell 50 percent from last weekend. The Wedding Ringer is on the verge of reaching the $50 million mark with a 17-day gross of $48.13 million.

Further down on this weekend's chart nether Open Road's The Loft nor A24's A Most Violent Year were able to pack much punch. The Loft debuted in tenth place with $2.75 million. Meanwhile, A Most Violent Year landed in thirteenth place with $1.51 million from 818 locations. The Loft suffered from being given a last minute wide release (after being long delayed), while A Most Violent Year has seen its early momentum come to a halt after not receiving a Best Picture nomination. A Most Violent Year has grossed $2.98 million to date.

Warner's Game of Thrones The IMAX Experience had a far more respectable performance this weekend with an $1.46 million from 205 IMAX locations. That gave the theatrical release consisting of the final two episodes of Season 4 of the popular HBO series a healthy per-location average of $7,142 for the frame. Game of Thrones The IMAX Experience is scheduled to play in IMAX locations through February 5th.