With still a day to go in the four-day Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, Paramount’s Cloverfield has already broken two January records. Earning an estimated $41 million from Friday to Sunday in 3,411 theaters, the J.J. Abrams-produced monster movie has surpassed the previous all-time 3-day January weekend record held by “Star Wars: Special Edition” ($35.9 million in 1997). With the $41 million, the movie also has passed up in three days the previous four-day Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend record set by Black Hawk Down ($33.6 million) in 2002. Cloverfield was made for just $25 million.
20th Century Fox’s 27 Dresses also opened strong, collecting an estimated $22.4 million in the first three days of the holiday weekend from 3,057 theaters. The romantic comedy stars Katherine Heigl (“Grey’s Anatomy,” Knocked Up).
Third place belonged to Warner Bros.’ The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. The dramedy has earned $42.7 million in four weeks.
The critically acclaimed Juno, starring Ellen Page and written by Diablo Cody, collected $10.3 million and has pushed its total to an impressive $85.4 million for Fox Searchlight.
Disney’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets rounded out the top five over the three days with an additional $8.1 million. The sequel is up to $198 million domestically in five days.
Screen Gems’ First Sunday made $7.8 million in its second weekend, a drop of 56% from its opening frame, and has earned $28.5 million so far.
Overture Films’ first feature, crime caper Mad Money with Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes, debuted in the seventh spot with $7.7 million from 2,470 theaters.
Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks is still going strong in its sixth weekend, gathering another $7 million for a total of $196.4 million.
Will Smith’s I Am Legend saw ticket sales of $5.1 million in weekend #7, pushing its massive total to $247.7 million.
Stay tuned for the four-day estimates on Monday!
