Professor Elam

Monday Jan 26 2015

American Sniper has already grossed $200 Million. It is drawing move goers like myself that rarely attend the theater any more.  I read Kyle's book and the movie is even more to real life than the book. The movie, which draws on his wife's viewpoint, tells the story of how the experience of four tours and becoming the Number one Sniper changed Chris Kyle. 

Clint Eastwood directed and Produced (his Malpaso compnay) the film.  I have discussed his success way back in the second month debut of this blog, the Good Bad and Ugly of Film Budgetting. 

I re visited this topic June 20, 2009 in examining the socionomic and financial success of Gran Torino.

Eastwood consistently brings his films in on budget and on time. His first fight movie Every Which Way But Loose was the second biggest grossing film Univesal ever hd at that point behind Jaws. I checked and he made it even in 1978 dollars, a dirt cheap $5.2 millin grossing $105 million, now that's successful. 

I understand the most frequently heard world in his set is, Next. The scene of the Psychologist interviewing Kyle in Sniper was done in only one take for example. Honky Tonk Man was filmed in less than a month. 

American Sniper budget estimate is $58 million.  Considerinng the extensive overseas location in Morrocco that is pretty amazing. 

One of my research interests is Socionomics.  This social science explains that happenings in society are the result of internally generated social mood. What we have here with American Sniper is an outpouring of social mood. The more a movie resonates with existing social mood, the better it will do. 

In that regard there were extensive previews of movies out this spring. And I noticed a follow up to the Mel Gibons movies of the 70s. yes Mad Max from 1979.  That film came out towards the end of an era of economic stagnation from 1966-1984. It mirrored the horrors of war with the energy crisis as a theme, just in synch with the second oil embargo. 

Kyle served four tours in Iraq. The last scen in Iraq dissolves into one of complete mayhem, dust, violence, and the inability to see who is enemy and who is not. For me this was a metaphor for all such guerilla wars; and it summed up what was hapening to Kyle and his relationship with his family and friends. Mad Max mrrors the craziness of war in a place where nothing but a scorpion can survive and death is everyone's companion. 

1966-1984 was also a period of no improvement in the stock market. If the analogy holds trued, from a socionomic perspective, this is an echo of what I believe is the current topping of the stock market. 

Check out http://www.themarketperspective.com

American Sniper is R rated for violence and as you can imagine, realistic language of people in war.