"Cloverfield" tops N American box office with new January record

Paramount's low-budget thriller "Cloverfield" opened with an estimated 41 million dollars in ticket sales this weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters, setting a new record for January, according to preliminary box office figures released Sunday.

Mysterious advertisements, a viral marketing program and an enticing premise proved to be effective for the film, which follows a band of partygoers who capture on video an ill-fated evening in New York when a skyscraper-sized monster attacks.

The Paramount release, with a budget of 25 million dollars, went into the black on its first weekend of exhibition despite getting very-mixed reviews. It surpasses the January record of 35.9 million dollars set by "Star Wars" special edition in 1997.

According to Los Angeles-based box office tracking firm Media By Numbers, "Cloverfield" may also be the biggest Internet-driven movie release since "The Blair Witch Project" in 1999.

With TV programming largely stuck in reality mode or reruns thanks to the ongoing screenwriters' strike, Americans flocked to the movie theaters this weekend, giving Hollywood a huge lift at the box office during what is normally a sleepy time for new releases.

Romantic-comedy "27 Dresses" from 20th Century Fox, another new premiere over the weekend, also did strong in box office, taking in an estimated 22.4 million dollars.

Meanwhile, last week's box office leader "The Bucket List" and front-runner "Juno" both held on to strong weekend business, finishing third and fourth with 15.1 million and 10.3 million dollars respectively.

The season's big winner, Disney's "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," did another 8.1 million dollars this weekend. The Nicholas Cage film has amassed a five-week record of 198 million dollars in ticket sales in North America since its release before Christmas.

The dozen top-grossing films took in a combined 135 million dollars at the box office this weekend, up nearly 39 percent over that during the same period a year ago, according to the Media By Numbers.

Via xinhuanet.com