Star Wars: Episode 2 - Attack Of The Clones has achieved the biggest opening ever in Hungary, overtaking the record set by Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring.

Clones, which opened with 37 copies in 25 cinemas also produced the biggest attendance ever on its day of release (May 16) with over 37,000 tickets sold. The weekend saw another 157,000 tickets sold and the total number of viewers Thursday through Monday nearly reached a quarter of a million. On its opening weekend George Lucas' film grossed $463,000 (HUF 139m).

However, while Star Wars was making box office history in Hungary, it was unable even to take the top spot in another Eastern European territory, Serbia and Montenegro.

Going out on 10 screens for distributor Bandur, Episode II claimed $34,657 (Dinars 2.3m) to take second place. Interestingly the film that beat it was chief summer blockbuster rival Spider-Man, which in its third week on release took $44,529 (Dinars 2.9m) - it now has a total gross of $159,285.

Although Spider-Man, distributed by Tuck, played on 16 screens and therefore scored a weaker screen average, the fact that Spider-Man held its own against Star Wars three weeks into release at all is worth noting.

Now we all wait to see how the web-slinger will follow Star Wars in those countries, including most of western Europe, that receive the two titles the other way around.