The Lorax Box Office Smashes Expectations With $70.7 Million
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax has exceeded box office expectations bringing in $70.7 million at the box office this weekend.
The successful opening has seen it easily score the best opening of the year so far; beating The Vow's $41.2 million.
The Lorax also is the best ever opening for a Dr. Seuss adaptation, beating out "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" which took $55.1 million at its debut in 2000.
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Furthermore, if current predictions are fulfilled then the movie will become the sixth best debut for an animated feature ever; beating The Incredibles' $70.5 million, as well as Finding Nemo's $70.3 million.
The huge first weekend for The Lorax has smashed expert predictions which had suggested that the movie would bring in around $50 million in its opening weekend. The $70.7 million for the weekend will delight those behind the movie as it was created on a relatively modest budget of just $70 million.
Universal has suggested that a massive 68 percent of the opening weekend audience for The Lorax consisted of parents attending with children under the age of 13; revealing the huge family audience coming out to see the animation. Positive reviews should also see the movie benefit in weeks to come as word of mouth spreads.
Another movie to do well this weekend has been "The Artist," which won Best Picture at the Academy Awards last week. The movie had its biggest showing to date with $3.9 million, which is a 34 percent increase from last weekend. The silent movie is in black-and-white, and is obviously attracting a very different audience to The Lorax. Despite its apparently modest box office grossing – it will finish its run as one of the lowest-grossing Best Picture winners in the past three decades – the movie is still a definite box office success, as it only cost around $15 million to produce, and has brought in a total of $37.1 million domestically and nearly $82 million worldwide.
This weekend's box office looks as follows:
1. Dr. Seuss' The Lorax — $70.7 million
2. Project X — $20.8 million
3. Act of Valor — $13.7 million
4. Safe House — $7.2 million
5. Tyler Perry's Good Deeds — $7.0 million
