Why didn't ZDT make American Sniper kind of money?

My personal opinion is that it boils down to American Sniper with it's title and reviews, promising a high body count. Almost the same reason Transformers or other action movies promising violence and killing do well at the box office.

People know they will see plenty of killing, and killing in a way they are not used to seeing.

We've seen plenty of people get shot or blown up by grenades dating back to movies from the 1930s, but really there hasn't been a war movie focusing on a sniper, killing unsuspecting people from a perched high sniper's nest. This is a novel approach to a war movie and people basically want to watch a dude blow other people away.

Because gun nuts and jingoists prefer movies about snipers to movies about torture.

Stop! Manners time.

I think it's because ZDT is more cerebral than American Sniper.
You need to be plugged in, switched on and properly watching to understand what's going on.
American sniper is, well......made for Americans

Because Zero dark thirty is an intelligent and thoughtprovoking film, instead of patriotic, propagandistic garbage.

I would guess various reasons.

--Clint Eastwood still is a well respected, followed director/person, even if another of his movies few people saw.

--Bradley Cooper was a more likeable character than Maya (Chastain), more known as an actor, too.

--"Zero Dark Thirty" came out too soon after the fact of Osama's killing -- a year, year and a half. Perhaps more time distance is needed to put it in context, perspective versus "Sniper" which is a few years after the fact of the Iraq War.

--Americans are less interested in historical elements and their details and more interested in the specific characters and individuals surrounding those historical events. People can identify with the notion of an identity, of Chris Kyle in "American Sniper", but "Zero Dark Thirty" is about events already known -- what could be learned from that?

--We already know the events of "Zero Dark Thirty" but do not know anything about Chris Kyle generally or his story. People are intrigued by this.

--More women can relate to the "American Sniper" story because it has a female character in a more relatable, traditional role (as wife, mother) than Chastain in ZDT, a female in the military, which is uncommon.

Yes, it should have made the same money. However, it was poorly made.

The subject matter was more interesting, but unfortunately the filmmakers did nothing worthwhile with the story.

1. Clint Eastwood

2. Bradley Cooper

3. Best selling book "American Sniper"

4. Chris Kyle's untimely death

5. Taya Kyle and her relationship with her husband made American Sniper more than a simple John Wayne-esque type war movie. Whereas ZDT's Maya had no love interest, nothing besides her determination to get Bin Laden. I think the American Sniper relationship aspect may have given American Sniper a larger audience.


I do, however, like both movie although I like ZDT more than Sniper.

Because ZDT is some *beep* ass propaganda and full of lies about the biggest fraud boogeyman called Osama Bin Laden.

Everyone should know by now the obvious false flag attack of 9/11 wasn't made by some bearded *beep* in a cave on a desert.

IMDB - Internet Moronic Database