Weekend Box Office: 'John Carter' Fails, As Expected

"Go big or go home" is the saying, but this weekend Disney went big and went home. The $250 milliion "John Carter" opened to just $30.6 million domestically, putting it well behind what it needs to earn to recoup its losses. Projections before the weekend suggested that the sci-fi film might lose up to $150 million.

The lone bright spot in the lackluster opening are the international numbers, which amount to about $70.6 million and put the film over $100 million in its first week worldwide. Still, there's a lot of ground for the movie to cover, begging the question: Is every movie about Mars doomed to fail at the box office?

"John Carter"s' haul was only enough to put it in second place, as "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" took the top spot with $39.1 million. The animated flick is a powerhouse thus far, earning $122 million over its first two weekends. All that's left now is to guess which one of Dr. Seuss' books will be turned into an animated film by this team next. "Green Eggs and Ham?" "Fox in Socks?"

Steroidal party movie "Project X" took third place with another $11.6 million, bringing its cume up to $40 million over two weeks. That put it just ahead of "Silent House," a new opener this weekend, which brought in $7 million. The horror film, which stars new indie darling Elizabeth Olsen, plays out its story in "real time" with a long, continuous take.

In fifth place was military film "Act of Valor" with $7 million, which means that new opener "A Thousand Words" failed to make the top five with $6.4 million. That makes the Eddie Murphy comedy a certified flop, and it's not much of a surprise: the movie failed to earn a single positive review on Rotten Tomatoes over the weekend, boasting a big, fat 0%.

1. "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" - $39.1 million ($122M)
2. "John Carter" - $30.6 million
3. "Project X" - $11.6 million ($40M)
4. "Silent House" - $7 million
5. "Act of Valot" - $7 million ($56.1M)