American Sniper Becomes Highest Grossing Movie of 2014

This weekend, American Sniper finished in eleventh spot but it make enough to pass The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1 to become the highest-grossing movie of 2014. It is the first R-rated movie to take the top spot at the yearly box office since Saving Private Ryan released in 1998. American Sniper also currently ranks 29th in over all domestic sales with $337.2 million in earnings.

Box Office Mojo also reported that an R-rated movie has now come in at number one for seven of the past eight weeks—three for American Sniper, two for Fifty Shades of Grey, one for Focus and one for Chappie.

That may contribute in part to the downturn in ticket sales during the first weekend in March. Without a lot of options for family viewers, it was the slowest weekend so far this year with Chappie taking an unimpressive weekend gross of $13 million. Focus dropped from first place to second with a $10 million in earnings and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel debuted in third with $8.6 million in ticket sales according to Box Office Mojo.

Theater owners are hoping for a better haul this weekend as Disney’s live action movie Cinderella faces off against Adam Sandler’s adaptation of another fairytale in The Cobbler and Liam Neeson’s R-rated action adventure Run All Night.