Spongebob Unseats American Sniper at Top of US Box Office
The Spongebob Movie Sponge Out of Water earned an estimated 52 million in theaters over its opening weekend, easily enough to finish atop the domestic box office. The animated Nickelodeon-Paramount joint venture based on the popular animated series unseated American Sniper, which brought in 23 million in its fourth week of wide release, as the top earner. Oscar contender American Sniper now has total domestic earnings that are expected to exceed 280 million. Other big budget new releases, Jupiter Ascending and Seventh Son, fared poorly in a field that was unusually crowded for early February. Jupiter Ascending, a 150-million science fiction epic from the directors of The Matrix, is expected to earn less than 20 million. Seventh Sun, a 95-million film starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore is expected to earn less than 6 million.