Weekend Estimates: Huge Weekend for Lorax Keeps Box Office on Track
March 4, 2012
Universal will be celebrating this weekend as their good year gets a whole lot better thanks to the estimated $70 million opening of The Lorax. While not a record for March (a mark held firmly by Alice in Wonderland with $116 million), that will be enough for either second or third on the all time March openers list, basically level with 300's debut in 2007. Given its $65 million - $70 million production budget, the film will be a huge boost for the studio's animation arm. It also means that this weekend will be about 25% ahead of the same weekend last year.
Second place for the weekend will be taken by Project X, which will post a very creditable $20 million or so. That will do nicely for a film that cost about $12 million to make, and shows that Chronicle wasn't a flash in the pan. Expect a lot more "found footage" films to show up in the next couple of years.
The rest of the chart had a familiar look to it. The Artist gets a bit of a boost from its multiple Oscar wins last weekend and will just make it into the top 10 with $3.9 million or so. A Separation will enjoy a bigger boost in percentage terms, topping $1 million for the weekend from 243 theaters.
Two limited releases have made impressive debuts this weekend: Boy will make about $23,000 from two theaters, while The Salt of Life is set for $21,000, also from two venues. Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie will be less impressive, but will still pick up $93,000 from 25 theaters, about in line with expectations.
Bruce Nash bruce.nash@the-numbers.com
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Project X, Chronicle, Jodaeiye Nader az Simin, The Artist, Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie, Boy, Gianni e le donne