‘American Sniper’ Blasts Way to the Top of Best-Seller List

The popular Clint Eastwood movie American Sniper, which has sparked heated debate throughout the country between liberals and conservatives, including filmmaker Michael Moore, has become a popular book once again.

First released in January 2012, the autobiography Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history, has ridden the coat tails of the Eastwood film, has made its way to the top three spots of the print best-seller list, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks approximately 80 percent of print sales, according to Publishers’ Weekly magazine.

Publishers’ Weekly revealed that the movie tie-in trade paperback edition of American Sniper sold just under 79,000 copies for the week ending Jan. 25. The mass market tie-in edition sold about 33,000 copies and the traditional mass market paperback sold about 26,000 copies. In total, the three editions, all published by HarperCollins, sold approximately 138,000 copies at outlets that report to BookScan.

The first non-Sniper best-seller was The Girl on the Train, which sold approximately 24,000 copies, putting it in fourth place.

Publisher’s Weekly reported that American Sniper not only did well in print last week, but it also held two places on the Apple e-book best-seller list. An enhanced edition of the title, also published by HC, was the top seller at Apple, followed by the regular edition, which was at No. 4.

The film, nominated for an Oscar, has grossed more than $250 million and has become the country’s highest-grossing war movie ever, replacing Saving Private Ryan. It is also on track to become the all-time highest-grossing R-rated movie ever. The 2004 film Passion of the Christ currently holds that honor.