American Sniper was taken down from its top position in the box office by none other than The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, which opened with an impressive haul of $56 million.

The 3D animation movie, which featured the adventures of characters from the long-running cartoon series of Nickelodeon as they leave their underwater home of Bikini Bottom to come onto land, bumped the Clint Eastwood drama from the top spot that it had held on to for three straight weeks.

The previous Spongebob movie, which was released over a decade ago in 2004, took in $140 million worldwide. The new film looks to pick up where the previous one left off, providing audiences with clean, fun family entertainment.


"The delay in films did not matter at all. It's become a generational experience. It's just a great brand," said Rentrak analyst Paul Dergarabedian, referring to the decade-long gap between the two Spongebob movies.

Dergarabedian added that the success of the new Spongebob movie is very impressive, as the film nears the success garnered by The Lego Movie, which was released last year.

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water features a combination of hand-drawn and computer animation, in addition to live-action shots. The movie received backing from a massive marketing campaign, and early returns show that it resonated more strongly with the audience compared to the first movie.

American Sniper, an R-rated drama that chronicled the life of U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, came in at second place with earnings of $24.2 million, bumping up its total to $282 million.

Gaining third place was Jupiter Ascending by The Matrix creators the Wachowski brothers, which stars Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis, with $19 million over its debut weekend. Of the total, $2.2 million came from IMAX screenings.

The science-fiction adventure film has been delayed by half a year, as it was originally planned to be released in July of last year. While the movie opened with respectable ticket sales, Exhibitor Relations box office analyst Jeff Bock reported that the movie has to overcome a massive production budget of $175 million.

"This opening is definitely the bottom-of-the-barrel for a film of this magnitude," Bock said.

Seventh Son, a fantasy movie that is another newcomer over the weekend, came in at fourth place with $7.1 million. While the film reunites Big Lebowski stars Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges, it received scathing reviews. The movie was also delayed in release, with its original launch set at February of 2013.

Paddington, with $5.4 million over its fourth week, completes the top five. The family-friendly film has garnered $57 million since its release.

The box office top five, however, may see a massive shake-up next weekend with the release of two much-anticipated movies, namely Fifty Shades of Grey and Kingsman: The Secret Service.

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