LOS ANGELES - The sci-fi monster film Cloverfield and the romantic comedy 27 Dresses are locked in a tight race for honors at the holiday weekend box office, with the result likely to hinge on one small factor: sex.
Paramount's Cloverfield is skewing young and heavily male. This crowd wouldn't be seen dead at 27 Dresses, which stars Grey's Anatomy actress Katherine Heigl as a perennial bridesmaid.
Fox's romantic comedy has established word-of-mouth among its target female demographic after two weekends of sneak previews. It was actually held back by a week in order to whip up more enthusiasm and to capitalize on Monday's Martin Luther King Day holiday, which will boost Sunday business.
Paramount insists that Dresses is the leading candidate to win the weekend, pulling in slightly more than Cloverfield, which it estimates will earn in the mid-$20 million range for the four-day period. Many others in the industry believe Cloverfield will come out on top, though.
The 2001 military action film Black Hawk Down represents the best-ever MLK weekend, earning $33 million for the four days.
Elsewhere this weekend, Liberty Media's Overture Films releases its debut film Mad Money, a female-skewing comedy starring Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes.
Money aims to cash in with somewhere in the low-double-digit millions over four days. Any shot at a bigger Money score was killed once Dresses was moved to the same weekend and grabbed the female demographic.
Warner Bros. execs hope to post a decent Week 2 hold for incumbent champion The Bucket List, which earned $19.2 million last weekend.
Meanwhile Focus Features plans to expand Atonement, last Sunday's Golden Globe winner for best drama, to about 1,500 theaters, from 950. The wartime tale of lies and love, was No. 10 last weekend with $4.2 million and a total of $25.1 million. It will hope to figure prominently when Oscar nominations are unveiled early on Tuesday.
http://www.hollywood.com/news/Monsters_Bridesmaids_Vie_for_Box_Office_Bouquet/5046816
