Following three weeks of incredible limited release grosses, Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” shattered box office records over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend. “American Sniper” earned an estimated $90.2 million during the three-day frame, breaking a record held by “Avatar” for biggest January weekend ever. The $90.2 million also ranks as the best debut for a live-action performance from star Bradley Cooper (Cooper’s voice-only role in “Guardians of the Galaxy” earned roughly $4 million more in ticket sales) and Eastwood’s biggest opening as a director. There’s more coming too: it’s expected that “American Sniper” will cross $100 million on Monday, making it the only Best Picture nominee thus far to cross that threshold in North America. Overall, “American Sniper” ranks as the 40th best debut of all-time, just behind the first “Harry Potter” film. To prove how significant all these stats are and put the debut into some context, HuffPost Entertainment found nine blockbusters with smaller opening weekends than “American Sniper.” This one is simply massive:
