Amid winter storm Nemo that struck the Northeast region in the States, this week's box office still performs quite strong with Melissa McCarthy's "Identity Thief" claiming victory with a big result. Taking in around $36.5 million on its debut weekend, the R-rated comedy performs beyond Universal Pictures' expectations, AceShowbiz said.

The satisfying result marks the biggest opening for an R-rated comedy movie in 2013 so far and one of the top five of all time. It even bests the $28 million opening scored by fellow Universal movie, "Mama", four weeks ago.

Despite the success, the studio believes that "Identity Thief" could have opened to an estimated $40 million if there's no blizzard that paralyzed most of New England. The comedy, which also stars Jason Bateman, received a "B" CinemaScore from the audience, which is made up of 58% female moviegoers.

Last week's winner "Warm Bodies" drops to the second spot with an estimated $11.5 million, falling 44% from the previous week. Newcomer "Side Effects", meanwhile, places third with approximately $10 million, in line with Open Road Films' expectations. After being screened Stateside and receiving a "B" CinemaScore, the last directorial film from Steven Soderbergh will make its world premiere next week at the 2013 Berlinale in Germany.

"Silver Linings Playbook" and "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters" secure the fourth and fifth places respectively. The Oscar-nominated dramedy bags around $6.9 million, dropping 11% from last week, while the twisted fairytale thriller collects an estimated $5.7 million, falling 39% from the previous week.