'21 Jump Street' vaults to top of box office

LOS ANGELES - "21 Jump Street" opened in the first place this weekend, garnering $35 million in ticket receipts as was widely expected. Holdover "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" continued to cast a spell on moviegoers, as it finished in the second place during the box office derby.

An R-rated action comedy starring Jonah Hill ("Moneyball") and Channing Tatum ("The Vow"), "21 Jump Street" outpaced previous expectations with a solid per-location average of 11,214 dollars from 3,121 venues in the United States and Canada, performing better than expected to represent distributor Sony/Columbia's third number one debut of the year. It is also the second highest- grossing movie for Tatum in less than two months after "The Vow."

The film deals with a pair of underachieving cops who were sent back to a local high school to blend in and bring down a synthetic drug ring. It appeals mainly to young audiences. Fifty-three percent was male and a half was under 25 years old. Early reception from the moviegoers was very positive, with those who has seen it gave it a "B" CinemaScore.

Illumination Entertainment/Universal's computer animated blockbuster "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" still kept its appeal among audiences, taking in 22.8 million dollars to claim the second spot. It is on track for a 158.4 million dollar gross over 17 days in exhibition.  

Disney's "John Carter" fetched 13.5 million dollars in receipts, crossing the 50 million dollar North America mark this weekend. The expensive sci-fi actioner, which took more than 250 million dollars to produce, is certain to go down as one of the biggest box office flops of the year.

Warner Bros.' low budget R-rated comedy "Project X" finished in fourth with 4 million dollars in sales this weekend. "A Thousand Words," Eddie Murphy's vehicle which was distributed by Paramount, was fifth with a 3.8 million dollar weekend.

Rounding out the top 10 most popular films of North America this weekend were "Act of Valor" (3.7 million dollars); "Safe House" (2.8 million dollars); "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" ( 2.5 million dollars); "This Means War" (2.1 million dollars), and "Silent House" (2 million dollars).