$70.7-million debut for ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’

“Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” posted the biggest opening of the year at the box office over the weekend, evidence that moviegoers were eager for a family film.

The animated 3-D environmental tale greatly exceeded industry expectations, raking in $70.7 million, according to an estimate from distributor Universal Pictures. Meanwhile, the weekend’s other new release, a polar opposite for families, the R-rated party flick “Project X,” collected a healthy $20.8 million.

As a result of the robust ticket sales, receipts were up 26% as compared with the same weekend last year. Overall, it has been a strong year at the box office: Sales have jumped 19% compared to last year, and attendance has spiked 21%.

Heading into the weekend, the romantic drama “The Vow” held the record for 2012’s highest debut after it opened with $41 million last month. But audiences were clearly in search of a movie to satisfy both parents and children, a rare genre at the multiplex this year. In addition to the live-action film “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,” there have been only two animated releases: a reformatted 3-D version of “Beauty and the Beast” and an American dubbing of the Japanese anime film “The Secret World of Arrietty.”

Featuring the voices of Danny DeVito, Taylor Swift and Zac Efron, “The Lorax” is based on Dr. Seuss’ 1971 children’s book about a fuzzy orange creature on a mission to save trees. It’s not the first time audiences have responded to a Dr. Seuss adaptation — in 2008, 20th Century Fox offered up “Horton Hears a Who!,” which debuted with a comparatively small $45 million, but ultimately raked in nearly $300 million worldwide.

Nikki Rocco, Universal’s president of domestic distribution, pointed to a number of factors in explaining the success of the latest Dr. Seuss effort.

“There was a lack of family films in the marketplace, it was a Dr. Seuss property, and people knew this was a movie from the guys who made ‘Despicable Me,’” Rocco said, referring to the studio’s last release from its family unit Illumination Entertainment. That movie grossed $251 million domestically and $291 million abroad, becoming such a success that it spawned a sequel that is slated to hit theaters next year.

“The Lorax,” which cost Universal about $70 million to produce, will open abroad next weekend. Those who saw the film domestically loved it, assigning it an average grade of A, according to market research firm CinemaScore. The movie was especially strong with families, as 68% of the audience was made up of parents and their children.

“Project X,” about three teenagers who throw a massive rager, went after a completely different audience. The raunch-fest appealed mostly to young males, as men constituted 58% of the overall crowd, and 67% were under age 25. The film received an average grade of B.

It remains whether the film will become a word-of-mouth sensation, though it generated much buzz on Twitter and Facebook in the weeks leading to its release. Warner Bros. produced the movie for only $12 million and did much of the marketing for the film online, later including fans’ remarks from social media sites in its advertising campaign.

The film is the latest this year to fall into the found-footage genre, which combines outlandish story lines with documentary-style video that audiences are meant to believe could be real. But “Project X” did not start off as strongly as either the superhero film “Chronicle” or the horror movie “The Devil Inside,” two other found-footage pictures released this year that have performed relatively well.

“Project X,” which stars no big names and was directed by first-timer Nima Nourizadeh, was produced by Todd Phillips, best known for his work on the hit comedy franchise “The Hangover.”

“Todd brought this to us and said it was really cool, and he shepherded the project and helped to mentor the director in a big way,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.’ executive vice president for domestic distribution. “We had a young audience who was looking for something cool and different. They talked about their favorite parties online, talked to each other, and really did the advertising on the movie themselves.”

amy.kaufman@latimes.com