Courtesy of Paramount

J.J. Abrams's Manhattan-based monster drama Cloverfield earned a colossal $41 million at the box office this weekend, giving it the largest-ever January opening and Paramount's tenth-biggest debut in the studio's history. By tonight, the film will probably have made back twice its $25 million budget, which Abrams kept low using no-name actors and Blair Witch-style cinematography (responsible for more than one upset stomach at the screening we attended on Saturday night).

Cloverfield nerds (like us) are already gearing up for the inevitable sequel, and one has posted an audio clip from the movie's ending, in which we learn — SPOILER ALERT! — that the monster survives, despite the best efforts of the U.S. military. Let's hope by the time Cloverfield 2: You're Next, New Jersey hits theaters, we'll have recovered from our motion sickness.

'Cloverfield' Pulls Down Monster $41M [AP]
Theories on the Whisper at the End of Cloverfield [i09]
Earlier: 'Cloverfield' Monster Revealed! For Real This Time!