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Tim Briody: I'm truly at a loss to explain this, outside of "MERICA!" but I'll try.

Clint Eastwood is very much a known quantity as a director. His box office track record is erratic but you know what you're gonna get with him. Add in the patriotic aspect and the nominations that were fresh in everyone's minds and here you go. That's...all I've got for this absolutely historic opening.

Michael Lynderey: It isn't possible to explain this number. It doesn't make the slightest bit of sense.

Consider that American Sniper is now the #40 highest opener of all time. Every single one of the 39 movies that opened higher is a genre movie - sci-fi, fantasy, superhero, animation, or some variation thereof. The only one that really isn't is Fast & Furious 6, but that's a very well-established franchise sequel, and can safely be called a genre film. Indeed, most of the top 39 are sequels, and all of them - all - no exceptions - are franchise movies (you could quibble about Alice in Wonderland, but it's getting a sequel).

So American Sniper has now become the highest-opening non-genre movie of all time. It will, unless we're seeing a new trend, also stay the highest-opening non-genre movie of all time for the foreseeable future (don't get any ideas, Fifty Shades of Grey).

No explanation could suffice. Call it voodoo box office. Regard it with awe. Fear it if you must. But a $90 million opening for American Sniper is not for mere humans to understand.

Felix Quinonez: I think Edwin pretty much hit the nail on the head. And the reasons he mentioned really did create the perfect storm. But even so, the level to which it broke out is amazing and I don't think there's anybody who saw a $90 million three-day opening weekend coming, especially in January. I already see this as a contender for biggest stories of 2015.

Bruce Hall: The film really did cross a lot of lines. Sure, Fox News devoted what seemed like 30 percent of their air time to promoting it. But it also opened to nearly $12 million in just over 300 IMAX theaters, which is also tops for an R rated title. This is not the sort of venue one normally associates with John Cougar Mellencamp songs. Clint Eastwood is a respected and recognizable name to cinephiles and casual fans both left and right, and the slew of Oscar noms and mostly favorable reviews from its limited release run no doubt contributed to excellent word-of-mouth.

Yes - a perfect storm.

It's also possible Clint Eastwood went door to door and personally stared holes in people until they jumped in the car and went to the theater, but I have been unable to confirm this.

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