Oscars 2015: Will American Sniper Steal the Show?

Does this weekend's mammoth opening tip the Oscar scales in its direction?

Story by Matt Cummings

Although the Clint Eastwood war drama American Sniper was poised to make a splash at this year's Oscars, there was no guarantee that it would become a sure-fire financial success. Films like The Imitation Game ($51m) and The Theory of Everything ($27m) featured excellent performances from Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne respectively, but neither has brought in the big bucks, a common feature for most Oscar nominees. But that all changed over the four-day weekend for Sniper, when it took home a stunning $89m in only its first weekend. Add in the Monday numbers and it surpassed $107m - the largest opening ever for a January film in wide release.

Who could have saw that coming? Some have claimed its success was willing was based on what few films today will do: show less of itself in the trailers. Look at any film today, and you'll see most of it played out in Red- or Green-band trailers, hoping you'll show up to see the rest. American Sniper ignored that 'logic,' featuring a riveting scene in which Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) has to take out a woman and boy who plan to wreck havoc on a Marine door-to-door. No one can deny that alone brought a lot of people to the theater to see how it all played out.

But with its success, does this change critical opinion at all when it comes to the Oscars? Sniper was nominated in 6 categories, including Best Picture and Actor (Cooper) but faces stiff competition from Birdman, Theory, and Imitation - those are the preemptive frontrunners, and will continue to be so, unless Sniper repeats with another huge weekend. Sadly, the Oscars have become a political event as much as a time to honor true achievement; but, could the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) ignore Sniper if it becomes a $200m domestic draw by the time its run ends? The same thing happened for 2012's Argo, riding a late wave of success before being crowned Best Picture.

Debate has continued as to Sniper's accuracy (most of Kyle's negative views and outright prejudices about his victims were white-washed from the film), but its success has accomplished an important goal: encouraging moviegoers to research the real history for themselves. If Sniper does take home Oscar glory, it will be due entirely to the ongoing conversation sparked by one of the darkest and engrossing films to come out in awhile.

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