CLOVERFIELD Crushes Box-Office Competitors

With an estimated US$41 million take, Cloverfield destroyed its competition at the North American box office this weekend.
Paramount’s monster movie directed by Matt Reeves and produced by J. J. Abrams soared past the $35 million record opening of the Star Wars 1997 rerelease. Cloverfield focuses on a small group of friends trying to escape Manhattan while a massive creature rips through the city.

New entry 27 Dresses (above, with James Marsden and Malin Akerman) ranked in second, pulling in $22.4 million from ticket sales at 3,057 locations. The Anne Fletcher-directed romantic comedy stars Katherine Heigl as a passionate bridesmaid who’s asked to arrange her sister’s wedding to the man (Edward Burns) she’s secretly in love with.

Last week’s winner, [...]