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March 2-4 Weekend Actuals
1. The Lorax (Universal) NEW [3,729 Theaters] PG
Friday $17.5M, Saturday $31.3M, Sunday $21.4M, Weekend $70.2M2. Project X (Warner Bros) NEW [3,055 Theaters] R
Friday $8.1M, Saturday $7.6M, Sunday $5.3M, Weekend $21.1M3. Act of Valor (Relativity) Week 2 [3,093 Theaters] R
Friday $3.8M, Saturday $6.1M, Sunday $3.7M, Weekend $13.6M (-45%)
Cume $45.1M4. Safe House (Universal) Week 4 [2,553 Theaters] R
Friday $1.9M, Saturday $3.5M, Sunday $2M, Weekend $7.4M (32%)
Cume $108.4M5. Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds (Lionsgate) Week 2 [2,132 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.8M, Saturday $3.4M, Sunday $1.8M, Weekend $7.0M (-55%)
Cume $25.8M6. Journey 2 (Warner Bros) Week 4 [3,060 Theaters] PG
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $3.2M, Sunday $1.9M, Weekend $6.5M
(-51%) Cume $85.2M7. The Vow (Screen Gems/Sony) Week 4 [2,826 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.8M, Saturday $2.8M, Sunday $1.4M, Weekend $6.0M
(-39%) Cume $111.6M8. This Means War (Fox) Week 3 [2,342 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.7M, Saturday $2.6M, Sunday $1.3M, Weekend $5.6M (-34%)
Cume $41.4M9. Ghost Rider 2 (Sony) Week 3 [2,487 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.1M, Saturday $2.2M, Sunday $1.3M, Weekend $4.5M
(-50%) Cume $44.8M10. Wanderlust (Universal) Week 2 [2,002 theaters] R
Friday $1.1M, Saturday $1.8M, Sunday $981K, Weekend $3.8M (-41%)
Cume $12.5M
SUNDAY AM, 2ND UPDATE: Obviously huge pent-up demand 
for a true children’s classic, an ‘A’ CinemaScore, plus an overheated box office converged for a monster hit. Universal’s The Lorax lunged to $70.7M for the highest non-sequel animated/family film opening. ($5.4M from IMAX, or 8% of the gross which is on the high side for a family film.) It’s the biggest grossing film ever from a Dr Seuss book, as well as the biggest opener of 2012, the 4th biggest March opener, the 8th biggest animated PG film, and the 5th biggest animated 3D film. The $70M-budget toon from Chris Meledandri’s Illumination Entertainment (Despicable Me, Hop) 
also is the 4th biggest Universal opener of all time. And remember: the next animated kid film isn’t until April 27th. Yowza! Exit polls showed that 68% of the audience was 12 years and under with their parents. Of those moviegoers age 25 and older, 74% were parents of a child under 13 years of age. Among children 12 and under, the audience was 57% female vs 43% male. Among those 13 years and older, the audience was 63% female vs. 37% male. Friday’s release date (same as Rango‘s last year) is the birthday of Dr. Seuss, who would have turned 108 this year. Film is based on his 1971 bestseller and Meledandri’s 2nd Seuss adaptation following his Horton Hears a Who! for Fox in 2008. This is his and his toon company Illumination’s 3rd successful film for Universal. Many from the Despicable Me team, including writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, producer Janet Healy, and director Chris Renaud. The film is executive produced by Audrey Geisel of the Seuss Estate.
The marketing campaign’s goal was to have the color orange be synonymous with The Lorax in the minds of consumers. Talk about successful: parents told me that whenever they passed the orange-takeover outdoor ads, kids would point and say, ”Lorax”. The primary marketing began last October with the launch of the teaser one-sheet image of the lead character and the teaser trailer made its first debut with Puss In Boots. The TV campaign stressed the younger voice talent like Taylor Swift and Zac Efron. Using them, a record number of media promotional partners supported The Lorax, resulting in integrations, tune-ins, and stunts on 18 networks over four weeks and more than 1,100 total promotional elements. The studio says its digital campaign was one of Universal’s “largest and most immersive in history” with the Facebook campaign including a 2-month content program “60 Days of Seuss” and a tie-in with The Nature Conservancy to help conserve a South American rainforest. Targeted outreach to mom and dad bloggers was the most expansive in the studio’s history, culminating at the Blissdom Conference, the largest annual convention of parenting bloggers. On opening day, Amazon allowed an external brand to take over its main page for the first time in its history as The Lorax promoted the Read Across America program. There were customized Lorax games and experiences developed for leading children’s digital destinations including Nick/Neopets, Poptropica, Webkinz. And Universal also partnered with Scholastic, The National Education Association, Random House and Target on different initiatives to celebrate Dr. Seuss and to develop materials for in-school awareness. Finally, The Lorax received a ton of synergistic promotion from Comcast and NBCUniversal with integrations across 20 networks and more than 40 digital platforms. Danny DeVito, Betty White, and Zac Efron appeared in musical performances judged by the film’s animated characters in an opening-week episode of NBC’s hit show The Voice.) The costumed Lorax character began appearing at both Universal theme parks in the holiday season. More than 70 global partners signed on to be a part of The Lorax, delivering more than $70 million in total media value, including IHOP, HP, Whole Foods, Hilton DoubleTree, and the Ad Council. The Hispanic outreach retitled the film El Lórax including Spanish-language versions of all promotional elements.
Warner Bros also had success with its found footage R-rated opener Project X which hit $20+M. Audiences gave the teens-gone-wild pic a ‘B’ CinemaScore (‘C+’ from families not surprisingly). This low-budget teaming of producers Todd Phillips and Joel Silver made a surprisingly solid $1.1M in Friday midnights from only 1,003 locations and went up from there. Warner Bros credits the success to a very unconventional marketing campaign for Project X. Given the lack of stars and the stale wild party theme, the studio sought word-of-mouth in the viral space and built urgency in a non-traditional way. ”We did use Todd Phillips’ pedigree along with The Hangover brand in all the materials to engage the young male target and give the movie credibility from the get go,” an exec tells me. At its center was a partnership with global youth brand Vice that was designed to seed early awareness and buzz. Studio created a series of videos called “Project X Party Legends: An oral history of absolute insanity,” featuring Snoop Dogg, Johnny Knoxville, Tyler the Creator, Ken Jeong, and others. Then there was a Vice-sponsored screening program across 10 cities and an after-party with underground hip-hop acts Machine Gun Kelly and Pusha T. These led to extensive college efforts and targeted national opportunities ranging from Howard Stern to Jimmy Kimmel. The trailer and ads took audience comments from word of mouth screenings and Twitter to lend the movie credibility with the target audience. Screenplay was from first-timer Matt Drake and Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, upcoming 21 Jump Street) directed by first-timer Nima Nourizadeh.
Best Picture Oscar winner The Artist from The Weinstein Co creeps into the Top 10 for its 15th week in release thanks to 790 additional locationss. Overall weekend biz is up for the 9th weekend in a row in 2012: $168M or +25% over last year. But will next weekend require me to autopsy report John Carter?
1. The Lorax (Universal) NEW [3,729 Theaters]
Friday $17.4M, Saturday $31.3M, Weekend $70.7M
2. Project X (Warner Bros) NEW [3,055 Theaters]
Friday $8.1M, Saturday $7.6M, Weekend $20.7M
3. Act of Valor (Relativity) Week 2 [3,093 Theaters]
Friday $3.8M, Saturday $6.1M, Weekend $13.7M (-44%), Cume $45.2M
4. Safe House (Universal) Week 4 [2,553 Theaters]
Friday $1.9M, Saturday $3.5M, Weekend $7.3M, Cume $108.3M
5. Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds (Lionsgate) Week 2 [2,132 Theaters]
Friday $1.8M, Saturday $3.4M, Weekend $7.0M (-55%), Cume $25.7M
6. Journey 2 (Warner Bros) Week 4 [3,060 Theaters]
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $3.2M, Weekend $6.9M, Cume $85.6M
7. The Vow (Screen Gems/Sony) Week 4 [2,826 Theaters]
Friday $1.8M, Saturday $2.7M, Weekend $6.0M, Cume $111.6M
8. This Means War (Fox) Week 3 [2,342 Theaters]
Friday $1.6M, Saturday $2.6M, Weekend $5.6M, Cume $41.4M
9. Ghost Rider 2 (Sony) Week 3 [2,487 Theaters[]
Friday $1.1M, Saturday $2.2M, Weekend $4.6M, Cume $44.8M
10. The Artist (Weinstein) Week 15 [1,756 theaters]
Friday $938K, Saturday $1.6M, Weekend $3.8M, Cume $37M
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Wow.
Ha, that trounces the $40 million opening for THE LION KING.
The Lion King did $40mil 18 YEARS AGO!
That’s almost $80,000,000 in todays dollars.
Trying to compare the openings is just stupid.
I was kidding. (You fell right into my trap, muhahaha!) My overly deadpan attempt at sarcasm was inspired by my growing distaste for box office figure$ in dollar form, especially with the apparent sharp increase in ticket price inflation. It just gets harder and harder appreciate with all the surcharges (like AMC’s bogus surcharge for theaters with premium audio). Book and music sales are measured by units sold. What about tickets? I wish we could compare Gone with the Wind, Star Wars, Titanic, and Avatar on that basis. Would it reveal something more than just adjusting for inflation?
It isn’t stupid. The number of tickets sold should be the way we measure the success of a film.
+1000000!
Maybe they should display both figures ($$$$$ + number of tickets sold) to make everyone happy and keep Hollywood honest.
Any business model that keeps afloat (barely) by raising prices instead of developing an attractive quality offer is bound to lose its customers and fail over the long – or not so long – term.
But studios don’t care how popular a movie is. They care how much money it makes. The box office gross is to compare it to the cost of production, distribution, and marketing, not to compare it to old movies.
The only use of box office figures as far as the public goes is to hype a movie. And higher numbers sound good.
There’s NO reason to talk about ticket sales.
How true. Boxofficemojo has an adjusted for inflation chart. The only film from the last twenty years that’s in the top ten is Titanic. Avatar is #14!
Yeah but Boxofficemojo are very clear about the list being inaccurate and merely a look at how things may look. It also takes little account of the fact that moviegoing habits have altered greatly, meaning films released in past 20 or so years face far sorter release patterns, almost never get re-released, (unlike films of old which were released again and again) and of course also have the home viewing, whereas the only way to see older films, either at all, or for years, was when they were at the cinema.
I get that it would be good if we could compare ticket sales, but there’s more to it than that. Really if you were able to look at the ticket sales odds are you’dimply find a 1-2-3 of Gone With The Wind, Avatar and Titanic anyway (talking total global sales here).
You know, someone else wrote a reply like this a couple years back and it was much better.
Sheesh, Meledandri & Co. are killing it again.
Now, I know that the animation quality isn’t quite up there with Pixar’s yet — but how is it that they can get away with making these movies so cheaply? They keep their pre-P&A budget below $71 million, and it’s not like they’re using B-grade animation or voice talent.
I still prefer Pixar flicks (their animation is in a class of its own, same goes with their stories)), but Illumination is carving out an insanely lucrative/profitable place for itself.
They have a very streamlined workflow in regard to animation and frankly, unlike Pixar, they know what corner to cut in order to keep things cheap.
They use less animators because they don’t focus on absolutely everything and it takes less time to render the film, thus making it cheaper.
So yeah, it’s a different style then Pixar’s absurd attention to details (that I love personally) that works wonders since people aren’t really interested in knowing that Illumination render X thing this way instead of that way.
Obviously all the talk on Fox News about the Lorax brainwashing kids into being pro-environmental and anti-industry really hurt their opening weekend.
Ha ha! Right? It also got an A on Cinemascore, so it’s really kicking butt!
Since Fox News skews toward the geezer demo, how many of their viewers are even interested in a CGI kids movie? And thankfully, there are some in the audience, like my parents, who are smart enough to see through this counterfeit outrage. It’s all so silly, grasping at straws like this. Don’t our friends at Fox News have better, more interesting lies to tell?
But they’ve done talking about Angelina Jolie’s weight.
Going by Drudge logic, the box office success of ‘The Lorax’ was a referendum against Fox News and the Republican party!
Saw the Lorax, and it was horrible. Seriously, it sucked.
If it’s anything like Despicable Me, then I don’t even want to watch it for free.
Why did it get an a cinemascore?
Two movies not to be missed— this means war and chronicle
please tell me you’re being sarcastic about seeing those two movies.
That crapfest known as THE SMURFS also got an ‘A’ at Cinemascore. What does that tell you?
Smurfs got an A-. May not seem like a big difference…but it is.
Agreed…..colors were fantastic, and animation good, but the story and dialog were just boring. Where were the rhymes? The Poetry? A big disappointment…
Having said that, given American movie goers intelligence level they will continue to flock to it and will gross well over $200M.
I always get excited to read the autopsy reports but Deadline never post them, what happened to the autopsy report for Taylor Lautner’s bomb Abduction?
The YEAR OF THE DRAGON strikes again! Luckiest year of the zodiac. Where every day it rains money and the box office is BOOMING! Praise Be! But even the DRAGON isn’t strong enough to overcome John Carter’s sinkhole or the charisma vacuum of Taylor Kitsch.
Pixar spends like 200m+ per animated film and Cars 2 didn’t open this well. Be fun to see if Brave can open bigger in the middle of summer than Lorax in March.
Yikes! I had to read that Saturday uptick figure twice to check it wasn’t a typo.
At a 20 million opening, how in the world is PROJECT X considered a “mega-success”?!
It cost 12 million and that’s before the onslaught of P&A that must have cost a pretty penny (it’s been advertised EVERYWHERE). Seems to me this a one-weekend film due to its narrow target audience and absolutely AWFUL rotten tomatoes rating (28%).
They’ll break even, or make a little profit in the end. But that hardly qualifies as a hit-film.
Try “barely successful”…
Agreed. It’s not a bomb, but calling it mega-successful is ludicrous.
How a film with 15 tv spots isn’t proof-positive that TV is king and online can suck it, I don’t understand.
Again a film (Lorax) will have a good opening, but also is overloaded with stuff not relevant to the source material.
This doesn’t necessarily affect OW numbers (film will draw families, no question, animated films usually do) the problem is the subsequent weeks.
Remember other films have opened well only to strike out. Animated films like “Lorax” are also enormously expensive to produce and market.
Everyone needs to take a break and not jump the gun…again. Jury’s still out. And for those of who hailing this as a successful chapter in film cinema, go look at tracking for the upcoming “Hunger Games” and then get back to me.
“Those” are numbers you can build a future on. Overloaded material free….
Here’s the thing about “overloaded material”–a small but vocal minority make a big deal out of it. But NO ONE ELSE CARES. The A Cinemascore and $70M take prove this. It’s hilarious seeing all the people so outraged because in their opinion it’s not faithful to the book, totally convinced they’re the authority on what it means to be Seussian. Get off your pedestal, folks, because you’re not.
I know the reviews have been middling, but the marketing was pretty darn good. At least the trailer and spots. I haven’t noticed anything else.
My prediction for John Carter is no higher than $65M domestic.
How are families willing to spend so much money on these movies? 3D presentations top $12 apiece for matinees, and here we are against the backdrop of another recession, yet people are still willing to splurge like this? Either everyone’s paying on credit cards or something’s going on behind the scenes.
Even in tough times, loving parents do everything they can to splurge on their children now and then. Going to the theater is a big event for most kids, and well worth the money spent to create an enjoyable family experience.
My guess is a 30 to 40 opening weekend.
Um…Eddie Egan, anyone?
Oh the places we’ll all go with the Lorax and Dr. Seuss!! Truly, author of LIE
I bet you the Latino audience had a lot to do with this Lorax success. Congrats Universal.
There isn’t a single movie on this list until #10 that looks worthy of seeing in a theater.
And Hollywood wonders why people are fleeing the multiplexes…..
Wow, you really know your stuff. We opened that wonderful #10 film The Artist
in our cinema this weekend and two people showed up on Friday night.
Uggh.
How depressing. You always hear people moan and complain about there not being any good movies, and then when they do show up, people don’t go.
“Fleeing the multiplexes”,REALLY? Box office numbers are up from last year. And there has’nt been a down weekend yet. 2012 is off to a great start.
I’m assuming you posted this comment in 2011 and your Internet is just really slow.
Agreed. Just caught IN TIME and HUGO on Redbox last night and was SO glad that I only paid $1.20 each. $2.50 for my wife and I to see two movies that were so-so at best, I can live with. But I would’ve been irked at paying $48+ for theatre tix.
Absent an event like Dark Knight or The Hobbit, I’m thinking I’m going to stick with the 4 month delayed viewing model.
That’s exactly the problem, anonymous. Yes, the box office is up this year. But, I have no problem with waiting 4-6 months before I see a movie. I rather save money and wait to rent it on Netflix then go to a theater. I’m looking forward to renting the Dark Knight, the Avengers, the Hobbit and American Reunion.
thats rather shocking . I’m hearing from a lot of people and kids that irs awful
I’m puzzled by “The Lorax’s” PG rating for “brief, mild language.” Do studios prefer to get a PG rating for kids movies because they think a G rating will turn off slightly older kids who might think a movie is “babyish?” I can’t think of any other reason why they might not do everything to get it rated G.
I’ve been wondering about that as well. It could be a bout of Shrek-itis, adapting a classic tale and then throwing in the occassional anachronism… y’know, for the adults.
After a screening a few weeks back, we asked the writers about the rating because none of us could figure out what warranted the PG rating. But it was mostly due to like 2 different lines and they weren’t bad by far compared to some of the crap that’s been out there recently (like Alvin’s Chipwrecked). And they weren’t “Shrek like” at all. This is one of those movies that did not go for the “adult/over the kids’ head” humor at all. I loved that.
Is anyone at Dreamworks Animation paying attention?
Anyone?
Katzenberg?
Beuler?
John Carter is dead. The Lorax’s huge opening and continued playability has sealed Mr. Carter’s fate.
PROJECT X b.o. dipped from Fri to Sat?
I see the film’s toxic WOM is starting to hurt business.
Wow….ive never seen near 90% fri-sat jump like that before….either everyone was waiting til saturday to watch it or word of mouth must have been really….i wasnt even expecting cuz to 50 when i was i saw fridays numbers…very impressive…..just another win for the despicable me crew…
Kids are in school on Friday. They can go to matinees on Saturdays. Not that a big a mystery.
Poor Dr. Suess must be somersaulting around his crypt.