Cloverfield stomps the US box office

After months of viral marketing, trailer-fuelled frenzy and any number of leaked reviews, Cloverfield is finally making its assault on the American box office. And what a result…

While this weekend is actually four days (with the Martin Luther King Day holiday today), it doesn’t look like anything can stop JJ Abrams, Matt Reeves and writer Drew Goddard’s monster mash from snatching the cash. Cloverfield has already snipped January and MLK records held by the likes of the Star Wars Special Edition and Black Hawk Down with a triumphant $41 million over three days. And with Monday still to come, expect it to keep on earning.

Also doing well is the cannily counter-released (i.e. appealing to the ladies against the testosterone creature chaos) 27 Dresses, with Katherine Heigl’s rom com nabbing $22.4 million. The two new successful releases have shoved The Bucket List down to third, with Rob Reiner’s comedy up to $42.7 million on its box office checklist.

Juno, meanwhile, has gone from strength to strength, dialling up $10.2 million this weekend in fourth for a running total of $85 million, while National Treasure: Book Of Secrets dropped to fifth, but still added $8.1 million to its $198 million haul.

In sixth place, First Sunday tracked down $7.8 million for a $28.4 total. And seventh place went to this week’s third new arrival, Mad Money, starring Katie Holmes and Queen Latifah. Sadly, it didn’t exactly live up to its title, making just $7.7 million.

Eighth place went to Alvin And The Chipmunks, which is still dragging in the kids (and probably a lot of annoyed parents) with its healthy total of $196 million, while in ninth I Am Legend starts to slide from the charts, adding $5.1 million to its own impressive $247 million take. And finally, in 10th, Bafta’s star pupil Atonement made $4.7 million this weekend, making its US total $31.8 million so far.