Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax topped the box office for the second straight weekend in a row, netting in $39.1 million. The Lorax has already grossed to an estimated total of $122 million which also surpasses The Vow, a romantic drama starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, to become the highest grossing film of 2012 so far. The Lorax, released through Universal Pictures, is the second fully computer animated Dr. Seuss adaption; the other being 2008’s Horton Hears a Who! which grossed to $297,138,014 in the box office.
Coming in at second place is Disney Pictures’ debuting, John Carter. The sci-fi epic depicting a civil war hero’s sudden arrival on Mars is Andrew Stanton’s, director, first live action film having directed Finding Nemo and WALL-E. John Carter is having a rough start to say the least, the film netted just $30.6 million on a budget of $600 million (production, marketing, distributing).
Rounding out the top three is the party-themed mockumentary, Project X. With a budget of just $12 million, Project X gained another $11.5 million in the box office this past weekend for a total of $40.1 million.
Contrasted to The Lorax’s unquestionable success in theaters, The Lorax has received mixed reviews from critics. It currently holds a 58 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. According to rottentomatoes.com, “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax is cute and funny enough but the moral simplicity of the book gets lost with the zany Hollywood production values.”
