Sideshow: 'Cloverfield' destroys January record

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, January, 2008 | by Tirdad Derakhshani Inquirer Staff Writer

Hollywood got some good news over the weekend. The creature-feature  Cloverfield  became the first monster hit of 2008, debuting with $41 million, a record opening for January, according to studio estimates yesterday. Paramount's tale of a giant reptile causing chaos in New York surpassed the $35.9 million premiere weekend of the  Star Wars  special edition in 1997, the previous best for January.

Opening in second-place was 20th Century Fox's romantic comedy  27 Dresses , starring  Katherine Heigl  as a perpetual bridesmaid. It pulled in $22.4 million. The weekend's other new wide release, Overture Films' crime comedy  Mad Money , with  Diane Keaton ,  Queen Latifah  and  Katie Holmes  plotting a Federal Reserve Bank heist, was No. 7 with $7.7 million. Overall business...