Weekend Box Office: March 9 - 11

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  The Lorax - $39.1 million

2.  John Carter - $30.6 million

3.  Project X - $11.5 million

4.  Silent House - $7.01 million

5.  Act of Valor - $7 million

6.  A Thousand Words - $6.3 million

7.  Safe House - $5 million

8.  The Vow - $4 million

9.  This Means War - $3.7 million

10.  Journey 2: The Mysterious Island - $3.6 million

The weekend box office ended exactly as expected...which wasn't good news for Disney, whose mega-budgeted sci-fi adventure John Carter not only fell flat with an estimated $30.6 million, but its opening couldn't even best the second weekend of The Lorax, which took the top spot with $39.1 million.

John Carter's demise was inevitable, with reports of reshoots, a budget reportedly in the $250 million range, and a poor marketing campaign that failed to sell the film to audiences unfamiliar with the original Edgar Rice Burroughs stories that the film was based on.  It did somewhat better overseas, earning and additional $70.6 million, but it's going to have to do a lot better than that to recoup its losses, which at this point isn't likely. 

The Lorax, in the meantime, will surpass The Vow this weekend to become 2012's highest grossing film until The Hunger Games opens in two weeks (which could hold that record until The Dark Knight Rises gets here this summer).  The animated Dr. Suess adaptation had a respectable 44% drop from last week's unbelievably good opening.

Also holding up well for a second weekend (and likely hoarding the audience that Disney was hoping would show up for John Carter) was Project X, which earned an estimated $11.5 million.  The latest in the found-footage genre has grossed $40.1 million so far.

The news wasn't much brighter for the other new releases this weekend, as the horror film Silent House, which opened with just $7 million and reportedly earned an "F" Cinemascore rating from audiences.  Yikes.  The Eddie Murphy movie A Thousand Words, which seemed to appear out of nowhere, seems headed to that exact same location, as that tanked with only $6.3 million.

The 80s return next weekend as the big screen version of 21 Jump Street opens in theaters.  Joining that will be the subtitled Will Ferrell comedy Case de me padre, and the indie comedy Jeff, Who Lives at Home.