Dr. Seuss movie "The Lorax" stayed firmly planted at No. 1 on box office charts over the weekend, easily trumping the debut of Walt Disney's expensive sci-fi flick "John Carter."
"The Lorax," an environmental tale about a fuzzy orange creature that guards the trees, held strong in its second weekend, with 39 million dollars in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales.
"John Carter" meanwhile, opened in second place with 30.6 million, a low number for a hoped-for blockbuster.
While the 3D space adventure grossed more than double that amount overseas, Disney is left with a big hole to fill just to break even on the mega-budget movie. The film cost an estimated 250 million to produce, plus tens of millions more to market.
"John Carter" is based on a century-old book by Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan. It tells the story of an ex-military captain who is transported to Mars and tries to end the planet's civil war.
Comedy "Project X," about three high-school kids who plan a party that spins out of control, pulled together 11.6 million domestically. That landed the movie in third place during its second weekend in theaters.
The horror flick "Silent House" had a quiet debut, pulling in 7.0 million and taking fourth place. The movie stars Elizabeth Olsen as a young woman trapped inside a lakeside house and unable to contact the outside world.
John Russell, Reuters.