The Lorax was the week-end's top film.
March 5, 2012- The Lorax, from Dr. Seuss, an environmental tale in 3-D exceeded all industry expectations in its debut weekend. The movie also was the biggest opening for any film thus far in 2012. It showed that movie enthusiasts were ready for a film for the entire family.
The 3-D tale took in over $70.7 million according to Universal Pictures, its distributor. The other new release for this weekend, Project X, an R-rated flick completely opposite from the Dr. Seuss tale, took in $20.8 million.
Receipts for the weekend were 26% higher than the same weekend a year ago. Overall, the year has started out very strong as sales have increased 19% compared to 2011 and attendance has jumped over 21%.
Before this past weekend, The Vow, a romantic comedy, was this year’s highest debuting film when it took in over $41 million one weekend in February. However, audiences are looking for a movie that will satisfy both children and parents. There have been just two animated movie releases prior to The Lorax thus far in 2012.
The 3-D tale is based on the 1971 Dr. Seuss children’s book that features a fuzzy creature who is orange and whose mission is to save all the trees in the world. The movie cost Universal close to $70 million and next weekend will premier internationally.
