weekend box office

Theodor Geisel — better known as Dr. Seuss — died more than a decade ago, but his legend lives on. Case in point? The movie ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’ opened strong with $70.7 million in revenues, topping the box office charts this weekend.

‘The Vow’ proved women do go to the movies, as the chick flick romance earned $41.7 million in its box office debut, making it the most popular movie in cineplexes this weekend.

Liam Neeson’s movie about being hunted by a pack of rogue wolves, ‘The Grey,’ was apparently red meat to movie-goers. It brought in $20 million in its debut to take the top spot at the box office this weekend.

Looks like movie-goers’ affection for vampires isn’t just limited to those in ‘Twilight.’ Kate Beckinsale’s vampire warrioress in ‘Underworld Awakening‘ proved popular as well, earning $25.4 million to take the top spot at the box office this weekend.

‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,’ the fourth movie in the popular franchise, ruled the box office with an iron hand last week. With a $31.2 million haul over the New Year’s holiday, Tom Cruise and company again reigned supreme.

With at least six movies opening in wide release on various days over the past week, it would’ve been easy for any film to get lost in the shuffle. But since Tom Cruise flicks rarely fade into the background, it’s hardly a surprise that ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ brought in $26.5 million to handily beat all its competitors at the box office this weekend.

In its second week of release, ‘Puss In Boots,’ the Antonio Banderas-voiced swashbuckling feline from the ‘Shrek’ franchise, pulled in $33 million in milk money to again take the top spot at the box office this weekend.

‘Paranormal Activity 3,’ the third installment in the horror film franchise, received a warm welcome at the box office this weekend, earning $54 million and a spot at the top of the charts in its first week of release.

As expected, Pixar’s ‘Cars 2′ easily took first place at the weekend box office, netting a healthy $68 million. That’s about $8 million higher than the original ‘Cars,’ which opened to $60.1 million in 2006.

As expected, ‘Green Lantern’ was the number one movie at the box office this weekend, taking in a slightly underwhelming $52.7 million, according to weekend estimates. That number marks the lowest opening for a superhero movie this summer, behind ‘Thor’ ($66 million) ‘X-Men: First Class’ ($56 million).