--- title: American Sniper: Box Office Gross and Oscar Chances description: The Bradley Cooper film has made more money than the other seven best picture nominees combined canonical: https://time.com/3712801/american-sniper-oscars-box-office/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-18T18:48:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:21.553Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Why "American Sniper" Was the Only Oscar Movie That Made Big Money og:description: The Bradley Cooper film has made more money than the other seven best picture nominees combined og:url: https://time.com/3712801/american-sniper-oscars-box-office/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc72d7c844f514807/69877fac5f570f18dab15519/as-fp-0141.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1908 og:image:height: 1073 og:image:alt: AMERICAN SNIPER og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why "American Sniper" Was the Only Oscar Movie That Made Big Money twitter:description: The Bradley Cooper film has made more money than the other seven best picture nominees combined twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc72d7c844f514807/69877fac5f570f18dab15519/as-fp-0141.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why _American Sniper_ Was the Only Oscar Movie That Made Big Money > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: 10 Questions with American Sniper Chris Kyle [Watch (HLS stream): 10 Questions with American Sniper Chris Kyle](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PpZTJML8.m3u8) (6:10)  _Published 2012-01-05. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who earned two Silver Stars in Iraq, explains the sniper's point of view_  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Feb 18, 2015 6:48 PM UTC  Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle in Warner Bros. Pictures' and Village Roadshow Pictures' American Sniper. Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle in Warner Bros. Pictures' and Village Roadshow Pictures' American Sniper. Warner Bros.  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Feb 18, 2015 6:48 PM UTC _Birdman_ may be widely perceived as the Oscar frontrunner for best picture, but _American Sniper_ has already destroyed its competition at the box office. Despite being the worst-reviewed Oscar contender (with a 72% on Rotten Tomatoes), the film has earned a whopping $306.5 million domestically so far, more than the other seven best picture Oscar nominees _combined_. Even Bradley Cooper [admits](http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2015/02/02/bradley-cooper-american-sniper-impact/22775661/) he can’t explain the film’s success. But here’s a theory—and, no, it has nothing to do with that [fake baby](http://time.com/3674870/american-sniper-fake-baby/). In a terrible year at the box office, _American Sniper_ soared when other Oscar contenders flailed because it advertised itself as a war movie, not a prestige film. 2014 was a bad year at the box office in general: moviegoing hit a [two-decade low](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-2014-moviegoing-hits-760766). But Oscar movies performed particularly poorly. _American Sniper_ was the only best picture nominee to cross the $100 million mark. _The_ _Imitation Game_ came in at a distant second with $79.7 million, and _Grand Budapest Hotel_ took the third spot with $59.1 million. Studios never expect prestige dramas to make as much as blockbusters like _Guardians of the Galaxy_ or even _Fifty Shades of Grey._ But in 2013, four best picture contenders grossed over $100 million at the box office: _Gravity_ ($274 million), _American Hustle_ ($150.1 million), _The Wolf of Wall Street_ ($116.9 million) and _Captain Phillips_ ($107.1 million). In 2012, five films—_Lincoln_, _Django Unchained_, _Les Miserables_, _Silver Linings Playbook_ and _Life of Pi—_all surpassed that $100 million benchmark. In comparison, this year’s Oscar hopefuls look like they’re limping to the finish line. Let’s assume that the controversy surrounding _American Sniper_—whether real-life sniper Chris Kyle was a hero or a murderer, a patriot or a liar—had little to do with its massive success compared to the other Oscar contenders. Every prestige biopic from this year (_Selma_, _The Imitation Game_, _Foxcatcher_, _The Theory of Everything_) has come under fire for factual inaccuracies or subversive politics. If controversy were all that drove ticket sales, at least a few of those films would have been hits, too. Let’s also assume that this wasn’t all Bradley Cooper and director Clint Eastwood’s doing. Neither has the star power to guarantee a hit. Up until this point, Cooper hasn’t carried a movie on his own—_The Hangover_, _Silver Linings Playbook_, _American Hustle_ and even _Guardians of the Galaxy_ have all been ensemble films with A-list casts. And Eastwood hadn’t had a hit since _Gran Torino_ in 2008\. Just six months before _American Sniper_ hit theaters, his last directorial effort, _Jersey Boys_, tanked at the box office. _American Sniper_ did have a major advantage over much its competition: it played in more theaters. The 2015 Oscars are dominated by arthouse films. From _Boyhood_ and _Birdman_ to _Whiplash_ and _Grand Budapest Hotel_, many of the standout movies were distributed by specialty divisions of major studios; therefore, they received limited releases. That’s not to say that _American Sniper_‘s massive success was predestined. The film cost just $23 million to produce, bringing it far closer to _Birdman’_s $18 million price tag than _Gravity’_s $100 million. But bigger movies like _Imitation Game_ were just as widely distributed, but not nearly as widely seen. No, the key to _American Sniper’_s success lies in its promotions. While all the other Oscar movies were sold as prestige films—trotting out their film festival laurels or punctuating British accents with dramatic piano music—_American Sniper_ sold itself as a good, old-fashioned, edge-of-your-seat war flick. Just watch the first trailer: As it turns out, Americans would rather watch a nail-biter than a meditation on childhood, fame, brilliance or whatever else the latest Oscar films might be meditating on this year. Here’s the real question: _Is Bradley Cooper going to shoot that kid?_ It’s hard to think of a better way to lure butts into seats. What was particularly brilliant is that they aired this (literally) heart-thumping trailer during football games, capturing the key demographic that made another real-life Navy SEAL movie, _Lone Survivor_ starring Mark Wahlberg, a hit at the top of 2014\. Both films pay tribute to the hard choices soldiers are forced to make on a daily basis. For _Lone Survivor’_s Marcus Luttrell it was whether to capture or even kill some innocent mountain herders who might report his whereabouts to the Taliban leader he was sent to kill; for _American Sniper’_s Chris Kyle, it’s whether to shoot a boy who may be trying to blow up his comrades. This helped Chris Kyle’s story reach outside the tight circle of largely liberal-leaning folks writing about and voting for Oscar films. Though New York and Los Angeles have the highest concentration of moviegoers and usually fuel successful films, _American Sniper_‘s audience trended toward the heartland. Eight of the top 10 markets for _American Sniper_ were in the South or Midwest—in cities like San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Nashville—[according to](http://www.wsj.com/articles/america-embraces-american-sniper-1421705164) the Wall Street _Journal_. Whether the movie is pro-war or not ([screenwriter Jason Hall would argue _not_](http://time.com/3669653/american-sniper-screenwriter-controversy/)), its campaign appealed to conservatives excited to see notorious Hollywood right-winger Clint Eastwood’s take on the Iraq War. (Other Iraq war movies like _The Hurt Locker_ and _Green Zone_ have mostly been helmed by liberal directors, and haven’t done nearly as well at the box office.) It also spoke to Christians who could ascribe to Chris Kyle’s priorities, as spelled out in his autobiography: “God. Country. Family.” So while Hollywood celebrates [a film](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1065073/) in which a young boy helps his father distribute Obama signs on Texas lawns, the rest of America will be watching another man—who grew up in a very different part of Texas—target an Iraqi in his crosshairs. ## Transcript Hi, I'm Belinda Luscombe. I'm an editor- at- large at Time Magazine. Chris Kyle, the former Navy Seal. He's also quite possibly the most lethal sniper in American military history. And he's here today to face a little smattering of friendly fire with ten questions at Time magazine. Mr. Kyle, thanks for coming. Thanks for having me. So, you've got this new book, American Sniper. Isn't it kind of not done amongst you special operations guys to talk about your, your, your stuff? Yes, it is kind of frowned upon. So why did you decide to do the book? I wanted to be able to get it out about not the sacrifices that the military members make. But the sacrifices that their families have to go through. About the, the single mothers now, raising the children and doing all the day to day house chores. But then also stories about my guys who deserve to be out there. They didn't get the Medal of Honor, so you don't know about' em. But they died heroes and people should know about' em. I believe that number is 160 is the sort of number of confirmed [ CROSSTALK ] Yes, ma'am. [ CROSSTALK ] sniper kill? Can you tell me what, explain what it is to have a confirmed sniper kill? Alright, well while you're on your sniper rifle, you take a shot and the guy goes down and you have to have witnesses verify that he is dead. And does it get recorded as part of the battle damage assessment or? Every time we come back we have to fill out an assessment of what happened throughout the day. The time, the place, the caliber used, the distance he was. What exactly he was doing, where he was standing, what he was wearing. It's all in the detail. So and there's that somewhere we can't get more than 80 but somewhere there's 160 of those forms with your name on them. Yes, Ma'am. What goes through your mind when you're shooting a, a, a guy, it's usually a guy? The first time of killing someone it You're not even sure you can do it. I mean, you think you can but you never know until you're actually put in that position and you do it. And then you double think in yourself, my God will I do this? Am I gonna be okay? And then you're asking your leadership am I cleared hot to be able to do this? Am I gonna be in trouble? You know this guys really bad. And then you're worried when you get home All the politicians are gonna hang you out to dry and put you on trial for murder. But the first kill that you write about in the book, you actually kill a woman. And she has in one hand, uh, the hand of her toddler and in the other hand she has a grenade. Was that the hardest? For all the kills you had to do? Yeah, I had to do it to protect the marines. So, do you wanna lose your own guys or would you rather take one of them out? You have two sets of kind of heads in that you have your I'm back in America head and your I'm at war head. Your two different people. You turn it on and turn it off. You're a little more aggressive when you're at work and when you come home. You relax and try to be the different person. And my wife always said that when I came home from work I'd take my cape off and put on the dork cuz I stub my toe or break my toe or something at home. But at work I was fine. Does your wife still have to say your name before she gets back into bed? [ LAUGH ] It's not as bad. But that was even before I was in the military. I've always been, extremely jumpy, when I'm asleep. And the reason your wife has to say your name before she gets back into bed? I will come up swinging. So, [ LAUGH ] depends on how tired. If I'm out cold, then You can ring the doorbell and I will be asleep. I have to ask this question but, are there any kills you regret.? No! Not at all. Because they you feel like it was either you killed them or they killed other Americans? Yes m'am. You know, you in your book actually that most I think I'm quoting that most American's can't handle the reality of war. And the reports they, they sent back. The reports being the journalists, didn't help us at all. Which actually sounds a lot like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. Did you realize that? You can't handle the truth. [ LAUGH ]. Is that, is that how you feel that Americans just can't? Yes ma'am. So we should just, you're on Jack's side in this one. Yes ma'am. You, you do not think. For the most part, the public, very soft. You live in a dream world. You have no idea what goes on, on the other side of the world. That, the harsh realities that these people are doing to themselves, and then to our guys. And there are certain things that need to be done to take care of em. Now if people, if people did start out with the impression, before they have read your book that you were that a person who have killed upwards of 150 other people was a violent person. Maybe a bloodthirsty person. I, I'm not sure that the book would free them of that feeling. I really don't care what they think of me. I mean, I've got my family. I've got my friends. I'm not trying to make new friends. And the people who, if you actually spend time with me, you'll find out. I'm just fun loving guy. Now I, yes, I have been trying to be a little more aggressive if I need to be, but I don't go around dumping people. If you never ha, got to kill another person again, would you be okay with that? I'm fine. I don't have to kill to live. But you were good at it. I was decent at it. What if killing people turns out to be the thing you were better at than anything? I know it's not true. I'm a better husband and father [ LAUGH ] than I was a killer. I mean, I've got a job now I'm good at. I'm pretty comfortable with not having to kill anyone. Now, don't take deer hunting away from me. [ LAUGH ] Chris Kyle, thanks so much. Thank you. 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