Sully Still 3 - Publicity - H 2016
Courtesy of Warner Bros.Clint Eastwood’s Sully glided past the $100 million mark at the North American box office on Saturday, no small feat for an adult drama.
The Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow movie — avoiding the turbulence that has plagued many other 2016 fall films — stars Tom Hanks as Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the real-life pilot who landed a disabled US Airways jet on the Hudson River.
Sully‘s cume through Friday is $99.5 million. By Sunday, its total will be north of $105 million.
At this pace, Sully will become Eastwood’s third top-grossing film domestically behind 2014’s American Sniper ($350.1 million) and 2008’s Gran Torino ($148.1 million) with a projected lifetime total of $125 million or more, not accounting for inflation. That’s just in North America; overseas, Sully has earned an early $36.4 million for a global tally of $133.4 million. (With its heroic American storyline, the movie is a tougher sell in certain territories.)
Sully also is a win for Hanks in terms of box office. It will ultimately mark his highest-grossing live-action film since 2009’s Angels & Demons ($133.4 million) and 20065’s The Da Vinci Code ($217.5 million). In terms of his recent dramas, Captain Phillips earned $107.1 million domestically in 2013, followed by $83.3 million for Saving Mr. Banks in 2014 and $72.3 million for Bridge of Spies in 2015.
Bolstered by strong reviews and an A CinemaScore, Sully is the most successful title of fall so far at the domestic box office. Aaron Eckhart and Laura Linney also star.
Eastwood’s film recounts the tale of US Airways Flight 1549, otherwise known as the “Miracle on the Hudson.” The plane, piloted by Sullenberger and first officer Jeffrey Skiles (played by Aaron Eckhart), was met with disaster minutes after taking off from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport on Jan. 15, 2009, when a flock of Canadian geese disabled both engines. With no other option, Sully was forced to make a water landing on the Hudson. All 155 passengers and crew survived, with Sully becoming an instant hero.
