The Universal Pictures release The Lorax topped the box office over the weekend, grossing an astounding $70.7 million during its first three days.

The animated film (read our review), which features the vocal stylings of Zac Efron, Taylor Swift and Danny DeVito is based on the Dr. Seuss book. It has already recouped its $70 million production budget and it should continue to bring in strong grosses in the coming weeks. That’s the best start for a Dr. Seuss feature, besting The Grinch’s $55 million opening in 2000. That film had the added star power of Jim Carrey, and it went on to gross over $260 million domestically. It looks like all in involved will be counting their green (eggs and ham) in a boat, with a goat, in the rain, on a train, in a car, in a box, with a fox, with a mouse, in a house, here or there and anywhere.

Low budget R-rated comedy Project X also had a solid start with a $20.7 million debut. It’s a good opening for the “found footage” comedy (read our review) that was produced by Joel Silver and The Hangover’s Todd Phillips.

Act of Valor upped its gross to $45 million after shooting up another $13.7 million. The gung-ho action movie might be a tough sell overseas, but that shouldn’t matter – it has already turned a profit.

Denzel Washington’s Safe House banked an additional $7.2 million. This gross brought the $85 million film’s domestic total to over $108 million, with a further $40 million coming from elsewhere in the world.

Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds took a major hit, grossing $7 million on its second weekend for a $25.7 million total. Perry’s movies are usually made on a budget, so this will still be profitable.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island discovered another $6.9 million and upped its cume to $85 million. The Dwayne Johnson starrer has now brought in over $250 million worldwide.

The Vow scored an additional $6.1 million over the weekend, which means that the romantic drama has now banked a mighty $111 million.

This Means War grossed $5.6 million, for a disappointing $41.4 million total. The McG comedy has now accumulated over $65 million worldwide, which is the production cost of the film.

Comic book adaptation Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance grossed $4.7 million. This gives the poorly reviewed Nicolas Cage film a domestic gross of $44 million. The $57 million film is now closing in on $100 million worldwide.

The Artist cracked the top ten following the film’s success at the Oscars last weekend. A $3.9 million gross sees the film up its cume to over $37 million. The $15 million dollar film has now banked over $80 million round the globe.

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

Source: Box Office Mojo