Sully has taken the number one spot for the second weekend in a row, bringing its take so far to $77 million. As it heads towards $100, maybe even $150 million, it’s a good time to take a look at Eastwood’s box office track record. Let it be known that Eastwood is 86 years old, that’s 17 years older than Hillary Clinton. He could almost be her father. Don’t ever let anyone tell you age is a factor in success.
Clint Eastwood has made four films so far to earn $100 million or more at the box office and one that almost did. Of those, only Gran Torino, which made $148 million, did not earn a Best Picture nomination, and two of them won Best Picture.
American Sniper – $350 million
Million Dollar Baby – $100 million
Unforgiven – $100 million
Mystic River – $90 million
Three of those above films won an Oscar for their actors – Hillary Swank for Million Dollar Baby, Gene Hackman won for Unforgiven, and Sean Penn for Mystic River.
Tom Hanks as Sully seems a long shot for a win, but who knows where the Best Actor race might go. Either way, this is impressive for Mr. Eastwood who shows no signs of slowing down.