Clint Eastwood war drama American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper as the deadliest gunman in US military history, debuted in first place at the North American box office with a record-breaking haul of $90.2m.

It broke a series of opening weekend records: the biggest January haul, the biggest total for a drama, and the biggest for a film helmed by Eastwood. It is on course to make a staggering $105m once totals for the US Martin Luther King Jr public holiday are added, the biggest ever for the four-day weekend.

Eastwood’s previous best had been the $29.5m taken by Gran Torino in 2008. It nearly bested Cooper’s previous biggest opening, Marvel superhero epic Guardians of the Galaxy in which he has a voice role – it made $94m on debut in August last year on its way to a $333m North American total, the year’s highest. The biggest previous January total was $68.5m for Avatar in the first weekend of 2010, while the highest previous opening gross for a drama was the $83.8m scored by Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ in 2004.

American Sniper, which has been nominated for six Oscars, has captured the US public’s imagination on the same level as a tentpole action movie. But not everyone is a fan of Eastwood’s film, which centres on the real-life US Navy Seal and sniper Chris Kyle, known for 160 confirmed kills in Iraq. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw labelled it “worryingly dull”, and there were even harsher comments from the leftwing US film-maker Michael Moore, who seemed to allude to the film.

Michael Moore (@MMFlint) My uncle killed by sniper in WW2. We were taught snipers were cowards. Will shoot u in the back. Snipers aren't heroes. And invaders r worse

Elsewhere at the North American box office, two more new entries fought it out for second place, the Kevin Hart comedy The Wedding Ringer ($21m) just beating Paddington’s $19.2m.

Last week’s No 1, Liam Neeson action sequel Taken 3, was in fourth place with a haul of $14m over the weekend, bringing its total to $62.8m. The much-discussed civil rights drama Selma rounded out the top five with $8.3m over the weekend and a total just short of $28m.

On an otherwise remarkable weekend for mid-January, the big loser was hacking-themed Michael Mann action movie Blackhat, starring Thor’s Chris Hemsworth. Despite a budget of more than $70m, the thriller opened at number 10 with just $4m and appears on course to be 2015’s first major box office turkey.

North American box office, 16-18 January

1. American Sniper $90.2m - new

2. The Wedding Ringer $21m - new

3. Paddington $19.2m - new

4. Taken 3 $14m, $62m

5. Selma $8.3m, $25m

6. The Imitation Game $7.1m, $50.7m

7. Into the Woods $6.5m, $114.2m

8. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies $4.8m, $244m

9. Unbroken $4.2m, $108.6m

10. Blackhat $4m - new



• Figures from Box Office Mojo