The Lorax Tops US Weekend B-O

MARCH 5, 2012 - The Lorax crushed even the wildest expectations with one of the best opening weekends ever for an animated movie. Project X also had a respectable debut on a weekend where the Top 12 grossed an estimated US$153.5 million, which is up 27 percent from the same frame last year.

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax opened to US$70.7 million, which is by far the best opening of the year. It's also the sixth-highest debut ever for an animated movie and second-best for a non-sequel behind The Simpsons Movie (US$74.04 million). Among March openings, it ranks third all-time behind Alice in Wonderland (US$116.1 million) and 300 (US$70.9 million). It also topped Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me (US$56.4 million), and scored the best opening ever for a Dr. Seuss movie ahead of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (US$55.1 million). 

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for March 2-4, 2012 weekend, in terms of rank, (previous week ranking), Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo. (US$1=RM3)

1. (-) Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (Uni.) $70.7 million ($70.7 million) 1

2. (-) Project X (WB) $20.7 million ($20.7 million) 1

3. (1) Act of Valor (Rela.) $13.7 million ($45.7 million) 2

4. (4) Safe House (Uni.) $7.2 million ($108.2 million) 4

5. (2) Tyler Perry's Good Deeds (LGF)  $7.0 million ($25.7 million) 2