'Warm Bodies' heats up Super Bowl weekend

Spitz predicted that the film, which he referred to as a "rom-zom-com" would benefit from the upcoming long weekend in the US that coincides with Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day.

Benefiting from the buzz following Oscar nominations for each of its four stars, "Silver Linings Playbook" was third with $8.1 million as it continued to open in more theaters and is now showing at more than 2,600 locations, according to the movie site Hollywood.com

Related: Chastain film 'Mama' takes box office win

Universal's Pictures' low-budget horror film "Mama", starring Jessica Chastain, continued its improbable ticket-selling run, with $6.7 million to rank fourth. It grossed more than $58 million in the two weeks since its release.

Also benefiting from its Oscar buzz, the Osama Bin Laden hunt movie "Zero Dark Thirty," had ticket sales of $5.3 million and has now surpassed $77 million domestically, according to the box office division of Hollywood.com. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Jessica Chastain's starring role.

"Django Unchained," director Quentin Tarantino's western starring Jamie Foxx has a bounty-hunting former slave, passed $150 million in overall ticket sales and collected $3 million during the weekend. It was also nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and for Christoph Waltz's supporting role.

"Warm Bodies" surpassed industry projections of $18 million, and benefited from an aggressive marketing campaign that started last summer and included trailers attached to "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" and 60-second commercials on AMC channel's cult zombie hit "The Walking Dead".