Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper blasted into first place with a massive $107 million on its debut weekend at the North American box office, a record for a January opening, industry figures showed yesterday.
The war drama, based on the true story of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, has racked up six Oscar nominations, including best picture and best actor for star Bradley Cooper.
But the film — on its first weekend in wide release — also triggered a heated online debate about patriotism, with documentary filmmaker Michael Moore claiming it hero-worships Kyle, while Sarah Palin said leftists were “not fit to shine Chris Kyle’s combat boots.”
“God bless our troops, especially our snipers,” the former Alaska governor and one-time vice-presidential nominee, a darling of the rightwing Tea Party movement, wrote on her Facebook page.
