Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: March 18th, 2012

Here’s our box office report for the weekend of March 16th, 2012 – featuring the performance of new releases ‘21 Jump Street' and 'Casa De Mi Padre' as well as returning films like ‘John Carter,’ ‘The Lorax,’ and 'Silent House’.

The big screen adaptation of the Johnny Depp-starring 80s television show 21 Jump Street topped the box office chart, grossing an impressive $35 million. The Channing Tatum/Jonah Hill action comedy has had strong review (read ours) and it should have a shot at hitting the $100 million mark.

TV to movie adaptations are often a mixed bag, and for every hit (Mission: Impossible) there are a slew of misses (Sgt. Biko, Car 54, Where Are You?,  and McHale’s Navy). Tatum is having a strong couple of months at the box office, with both 21 Jump Street and The Vow scoring big. He also has the action sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Steven Soderbergh’s stripper drama Magic Mike on the way in June.

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax scored an additional $22.8 million, a number which upped the animated tale’s cume to a powerful $158 million.

Disney’s disastrous John Carter plummeted over 50%, grossing just $13.5 million over the weekend. The pricey adventure has grossed just $53.1 million since its release last weekend – not a good number given the films $250 million production cost. Some solace can be taken in the relatively strong international numbers ($126 million), but it’s going to take a while for the Mars based film to get out of the red. Fans who want a sequel are going to have to go and see the movie again... and again... and again...

Project X grossed $4 million over the weekend. That gives the $12 million comedy a $48 million total.

Eddie Murphy’s A Thousand Words held up surprisingly well, dipping a little over 39% following last weekend’s poor debut. The family comedy banked $3.7 million for a $12.1 million total.

Action film Act of Valor brought in $3.6 million, upping its gross to just over $62 million. That’s a good number for the film which cost just $12 million to produce.

Denzel Washington hit Safe House grossed $2.8 million, bringing the action film's total to a smidgen over $120 million. The film is now the second highest grossing in the Oscar winner’s career, behind American Gangster’s $130 million domestic take.

Family adventure Journey 2: The Mysterious Island upped its take to $95 million after grossing an additional $2.3 million. The film has now amassed $300 million worldwide, besting the $241 million take of the Brendan Fraser starring original.

Will Ferrell’s artsy comedy Casa De Mi Padre (read our review) debuted in ninth place. The $6 million Spanish language film grossed $2.2  million from a mere 382 locations. Kerching.

This Means War brought in $2.1 million, which gives the romantic comedy a so-so $50 million total haul.

One Channing Tatum arrived in the top ten and another one dropped out. The Vow grossed $2.1 million, upping the romantic drama's total gross to $121 million, while horror Silent House dropped almost 70% from last weekend’s launch. A $2 million weekend take sees the $1 million film up its gross to $10 million.

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

Source: Box Office Mojo

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