BOX OFFICE: CLOVERFIELD off to a monster start

Probably the worst titled big monster movie in history, the total Internet driven feature CLOVERFIELD took home a massive $18.25 million on Friday and should easily now go on to become the biggest January opening of all time.

The movie that in the summer we were all calling a big gamble, has turned out to be a great feather in the cap of Paramount. The studio are looking at a near $50 million haul over the 4 day Martin Luther King weekend if word of mouth can travel past those who have tracked the film closely and saw it opening day. Although it's been terrifically received by most on the web, it will be interesting to see if there is a backlash over the shaky style of the picture and whether the average movie fan enjoyed it enough to recommend it to their friends and family. Surprisingly the Katherine Heigl romantic comedy 27 DRESSES has also impressed with a $8.65 opening day taking which could result in as much as $25 million for the weekend which is a great achievement for the actress in her first leading role and was no doubt helped by the KNOCKED UP fanbase and the fact it was up against such a male driven movie. The other female centric movie MAD MONEY looks to have been a been a big failure as Overture's first film. A poor $2.25 million opening day will probably end the weekend with less than $10 million. Some facts & figures... ALL-TIME TOP 5 JANUARY 3-DAY WEEKENDS 1. CLOVERFIELD (2007) - $48M (early estimates) 2. STAR WARS - SPECIAL EDITION RE-RELEASE (1997) - $35.9M 3. BLACK HAWK DOWN (2002) - $28.6M 4. BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE 2 (2006) - $27.73M 5. ALONG CAME POLLY (2004) - $27.72M CREATURE FEATURE OPENING WEEKENDS 1. THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK (1997) - $72.1M 2. JURASSIC PARK III (2001) - $50.3M 3. KING KONG (2005) - $50.1M 4. JURASSIC PARK (1993) - $47M 5. CLOVERFIELD (2007) - $48M (early estimates) 6. GODZILLA (1998) - $44M Thoughts from any of you who have seen it? (without spoilers if possible). source - slash film, box office mojo