Hollywood's latest World War II flick "Inglourious Basterds" stormed the North American box office this weekend, debuting with an estimated 37.6 million dollars in ticket sales, according to preliminary projections released on Sunday.

The latest WWII relic from the Weinstein Co, directed by Quentin Tarantino who was famous for Oscar-winning film "Pulp Fiction," tells a story about revenge-seeking second-generation American Jewish soldiers wrecking havoc in Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.

It was filmed for about 70 million dollars and was praised by film critics as a gory yet funny, and cathartic romp through a history significantly rewritten by Tarantino, although he didn't study the actual war much.

It stars top-notch headliners like Brad Pitt, Eli Roth and Diane Kruger. Brad Pitt as a Southerner who took pride in his partial Apache pedigree in the movie, led the platoon of renegades to launch attacks in the Germany.

Another story line has Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) as a Jewish woman who, witnessing her family's murder by the Nazis, came up with a plan to wreak revenge on the entire German high command.

Quentin Tarantino deliberately twisted the spelling of the title so as not to be mixed up with a 1978 Italian WWII film "Inglorious Bastards." The strong start of the movie is an auspicious sign for the drooping Hollywood, as its season keeps sliding for a month.

Last week's No. 1, Sony/Tri-Star's "District 9" fell to second place, earning 18.9 million dollars this weekend and a total of 73.5 million dollars over its two-week run, according to estimates made by North American box office authorities.

The movie was made with just 30 million dollars and features no marquee names from Hollywood, and the vehicles used in it were borrowed in order to keep the cost on budget. It was produced by Oscar-winning writer-director Peter Jackson of "Lord of the Rings." Director Neil BLomkamp is turning 30 only next month and lacks feature film experience before the film was launched.

"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," Paramount's live action adaptation of a popular toy franchise, took the number three slot with 12.5 million dollars in sales and a total of 120.5 million dollars during its three-week release.

Rounding out the top 5 are "The Time Traveler's Wife" from Warner Bros., with 10 million dollars this weekend and 37.4 million dollars over two weeks, and "Julie and Julia" from Sony/Columbia, with 9 million dollars this weekend and 59.3 million dollars over three weeks.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2009)