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"The Lorax" nabbed the top opening of 2012 in beating the $41.2 million debut of "The Vow."
Lighting up the family marketplace, Universal and Illumination Entertainment's "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" debuted to a staggering $70.7 million, marking the best opening ever for a non-sequel animated title if the number holds.
The 3D pic -- receiving a glowing A CinemaScore -- narrowly bested the $70.5 million earned by Pixar's "The Incredibles" in 2004, according to Universal estimates. Final numbers will come in Monday morning.
Either way, "Lorax" is an enormous victory for Universal and Illumination, as well as the film business in general. After last year's moviegoing slump, which dampened the family marketplace, the domestic box office is surging. Revenues were up nearly 30 percent this weekend, marking the 9th weekend in a row of growth.
"Lorax" broke a number of other records, including nabbing the top opening of 2012 in beating the $41.2 million debut of "The Vow." It's also the best showing for any animated film since summer 2010 when "Toy Story 3" debuted to $110.3 million and "Shrek Forever After" opened to $70.8 million. And Lorax scored the fourth best opening ever for any Universal title.
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Playing in a total of 3,729 theaters, "Lorax" drew more than 50 percent of its grosses from 3D or digital IMAX theaters.
Based on the Dr. Seuss book, a young boy who wants to impress a girl, seeks out the elusive Lorax, a grumpy yet charming creature who doggedly protects his world from outsiders.
Dr. Seuss, who would have turned 108 this year, published "The Lorax" in 1971. The big screen adaptation is voiced by Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Ed Helms and Betty White.
Lorax cost under $70 million to produce and is the third movie from Universal and Illumination after box office hits "Despicable Me" and "Hop."
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Illumination's Chris Meledandri produced the film, which marks his second Dr. Seuss production after "Horton Hears a Who!," which he made at Fox when running Fox Animation.
Heading into the weekend, tracking was strong for "Lorax" following an aggressive marketing campaign by Universal that included more than 70 global promotional partners.
Warner Bros.' found-footage comedy "Project X" -- costing a modest $12 million to make -- also did better than expected in opening to $20.8 million. The R-rated film was produced by Todd Phililps and Joel Silver.
"Project X," receiving a B CinemaScore overall, appealed heavily to younger males, who gave it an A CinemaScore. Of those buying tickets, 67 percent were under the age of 25, while 58 percent of that demo were males.
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"Todd Phillips is just incredibly talented," said Warner Bros. executive vice president of distribution Jeff Goldstein.
"Project X" was directed by Nima Nourizadeh from a script Michael Bacall and Matt Drake.
Warners waged a nationwide casting call for the R-rated pic, which stars Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper and Jonathan Daniel Brown.
Also making a major push this weekend was Oscar winner "The Artist," which expanded from roughly 1,000 theaters to more than 1,756 following its Academy Award victories, including best picture. Distributed by The Weinstein Co., the silent black-and-white film came in No. 10, grossing $3.9 million for a cume of $37.1 million. The film was up 34 percent, reflecting an Oscar bump.
Domestic Box Office, March 2-March 4
Title/Weeks in Release/Theater Count, Studio/Three Day Weekend Total/Cume
1. Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, 1/3729, Universal/Illumination, $70.7 million
2. Project X, 1/3,055, Warner Bros., $20.8 million
3. Act of Valor, 2/3,053, Relativity/Bandito Brothers, $13.7 million, $45.2 million
4. Safe House, 4/2,553, Universal, $7.2 million, $1 $7 million,08.2 million
5. Tyler Perry's Good Deeds, 2/2,132, Lionsgate, $25.7 million
6. Journey 2, 4/3,060, New Line/Warner Bros., $6.9 million, $85.6 million
7. The Vow, 4/2,826, Screen Gems/Spyglass, $6.1 million, $111.7 million
8. This Means War, 3/2,324, Fox, $5.6 million, $41.5 million
9. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, 3/2,487, Sony/Hyde Park, $4.7 million, $44.9 million
10. The Artist, 15/1,756, The Weinstein Co., $3.9 million, $37.1 million
Did you see "The Lorax" or any other movie this weekend? What did you think? Share your thoughts on Facebook.
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Did anyone see this? The original Lorax was one of my favorites as a kid.
Fox News hates this movie so much because of it's so called liberal agenda. They claim to have the highest ratings in america, yet no one listened to their advice and went to see the movie anyway.
Fox News can stick it up their you-know-wheres.
They have the highest cable ratings. But, only 1/10th of overall news outlets ratings. Broadcast news trounces them that badly.
I know, I know, they say it in a way that is totally misleading. But then, that's what they do best.
oh shut up!
The Lorax was awesome! Beautiful animation and a great story!
Sure shows you people are looking for an escape from the current affairs.
We took our kids to see it in IMAX 3D on Friday night and it was totally and completely awesome. It was really cool to see Dr. Seuss' vision actualized like that. It made me proud! :) Totally worth the money for the IMAX, too.
And somewhere, Lou Dobbs is crying.
Universal should send him a thank-you note or some other token of their appreciation for all the free publicity he provided.
"I speak for the trees." Great movie and can't until it comes out on Blue-ray.
I took my two children, ages 6 and 13 to see it on Sunday. We enjoyed it very much! The best part was the discussion about the environment we had on the way home from the theater. And then the second discussion we had about big business and greed and doing the right thing at dinner. It brought a tear to my eye that several hours after seeing the film (we had gone to the morning show) my thirteen year old son was still pondering the themes of an animated film. Especially considering he is at that age that anything even remotely "babyish" is beyond his time and effort.
I haven't seen it yet, but I like that the illustrations of the book are alive, and I'd like to see it. People say that it's pretty faithful to the story.
It's the only kid/family friendly movie for age. The only other options are Journey2 (a sequel-who saw the first one?) and Hugo, which has been out since November. Also, almost everyone has read it at sometime or other. Fortunately, it's not live action, or some comedian would be trying to gross it up like what happened to the Cat in the Hat.