Japanese Box Office

The weekend numbers are in for Japan, and Cloverfield pulled in $2,580,377, making it number one.

According to Variety:

"Cloverfield" hit No. 1 at the Japanese weekend B.O., following its April 5 bow on 235 screens.... This was 30.2% more than "Dreamgirls," which opened on 287 screens and finished with $19.3 million and only 1.2% less than "Babel," which bowed on 351 screens and ended with $20 million.

Helmer Matt Reeves, producer J.J. Abrams and members of the pic's cast and staff came to Japan to tubthump for the pic. Also distrib Paramount mounted an intensive campaign centered on the Web, which succeeded in drawing the target teens and twenties demo, as well as dating couples.

Paramount accordingly expects "Cloverfield," which was inspired by "Godzilla" and other Japanese monster epics, to hit the $20 million mark.

For comparison, I pulled some other opening weekends in Japan from BoxOfficeMojo:

The Golden Compass . $8,001,868
Jumper ............. $4,618,372
Enchanted .......... $4,423,304
Sweeney Todd ....... $3,729,116
Cloverfield ........ $2,580,377
American Gangster .. $1,702,284
Vantage Point ...... $1,482,229
The Water Horse .... $510,516
28 Weeks Later ..... $344,374