Paramount Pictures crossed billion-dollar Mark Last Weekend

Paramount Pictures said on Monday it had topped $1 billion in sales at U.S. and Canadian box offices, boosted by hit films "Iron Man" and the latest "Indiana Jones" saga, and become the first studio to pass that benchmark this year.

This marks back-to-back years of firsts for Paramount Pictures and five consecutive weeks of holding the Number One spot in domestic market share.

The half-year got off to a strong start with JJ Abrams’ thriller "Cloverfield" earning $80 million. Paramount was further buoyed by the blockbuster successes of Marvel Entertainment’s "Iron Man" ($305 million), Lucasfilms’ and Steven Spielberg’s "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" ($291 million) and DreamWorks Animation’s "Kung Fu Panda" ($156 million).

Paramount’s forthcoming openings this year include :

• DreamWorks’ Tropic Thunder starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and Jack Black (August 15, 2008).

• Paramount Vantage’s American Teen (July 25, 2008).

• DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (November 7, 2008).

• DreamWorks’ The Soloist starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr. (November 21, 2008).

• Paramount’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett (Christmas Day).

• DreamWorks’ Revolutionary Road starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio (December 26, 2008).

*( Data Extracted from News reports and Google)