Bradley Cooper’s ‘Elephant Man,’ ‘American Sniper’ score at box office

Bradley Cooper scored two box-office successes over the Christmas weekend with the Broadway revival of “The Elephant Man” and the limited release of his latest movie, “American Sniper.”

Producers of “The Elephant Man” announced on Sunday that the play has recouped its $3.1-million capitalization after a little more than six weeks of performances at the Booth Theatre in New York. For the week ending Dec. 28, the production grossed approximately $1.1 million, making it one of the top-grossing plays on Broadway.

In the drama, written by Bernard Pomerance, Cooper stars as John Merrick, an Englishman born with severe physical deformities. The actor previously played the part at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2012 before taking the production to New York.

“The Elephant Man” has consistently been a top seller on Broadway since previews began in November. Its haul of $1.1 million in the most recent week represents a box-office high for the play. The Christmas holiday usually sees a box-office bump for most Broadway productions.

Directed by Scott Ellis, “The Elephant Man” also stars Alessandro Nivola as the doctor who cares for Merrick, and Patricia Clarkson as an actress who befriends the patient.

“American Sniper,” directed by Clint Eastwood, opened in limited release on Christmas on just four screens in Los Angeles, New York and Texas. The movie has so far grossed an estimated $850,000, for a whopping per-screen average of $212,500, according to data provided by Rentrak.

For the weekend alone, “American Sniper” grossed $610,000, or $152,100 per screen, putting it behind “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which had the largest per-screen opening of the year with a little more than $200,000.

The movie, based on the bestselling memoirs of the late Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL, will open wide Jan. 16.

Cooper has been busy in recent days promoting “American Sniper” while performing in “The Elephant Man” in the evenings and for matinees. The play recently extended its run to Feb. 22. Performances on Jan. 13, 14, and 20 have been canceled due to Clarkson’s filming commitments. A second performance on Sunday, Jan. 25, has been added.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT