Friday Report: Strong Start for '21 Jump Street'
Audiences proved eager to revisit high school with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum yesterday, which led 21 Jump Street to a first place debut ahead of reigning champion The Lorax. John Carter took a substantial hit on Friday, while Will Ferrell's Casa De Mi Padre had a very solid start in limited release.

21 Jump Street opened to an estimated $13.1 million yesterday, putting it in line for an opening weekend between $34 and $36 million. Among major TV adaptations, 21 Jump Street came in slightly below S.W.A.T. ($13.6 million) and Get Smart ($13.4 million), but did wind up above the more comparable Dukes of Hazzard ($12.6 million) and Starsky and Hutch ($9.5 million). It even managed to open slightly above Superbad's $12.3 million, though it was probably a tad lower in ticket sales. Aside from Jackass 3-D (which is a sort of comedy/documentary hybrid), 21 Jump Street scored the best opening day ever for an R-rated comedy outside of Summer (May-August).

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax eased 30 percent to an estimated $6.7 million on Friday. The movie has made $142.3 million through 15 days, and should pass the final tally of Horton Hears a Who! ($154.5 million) by the end of the weekend.

John Carter fell 59 percent to just over $4 million. That hold is a slight improvement over Battle: Los Angeles and 10,000 B.C., but its $43.7 million eight-day total is notably lagging behind nearly all comparable titles.

Facing very direct competition from 21 Jump Street, Project X plummeted 62 percent to an estimated $1.53 million. The found footage party comedy has now earned $45.6 million.

A Thousand Words rounded out the Top Five with an estimated $1.13 million, which is off a decent 41 percent from last Friday. That's much better than Silent House, which fell 73 percent from opening day for a $726,000 tally. Through eight days, these two movies have made a terrible $9.5 million and $9.2 million, respectively.

Casa De Mi Padre was a bit of a surprise on Friday—the Spanish-language Will Ferrell movie claimed eighth place with $760,000 from just 382 locations. That should translate in to an opening weekend north of $2 million, which is very respectable given the movie's language barrier and light marketing effort.

Jeff, Who Lives at Home didn't fare quite as well as Casa De Mi Padre—the Duplass Brothers comedy opened to $264,000 from 254 theaters, and might not even make it to $1 million this weekend.

Friday estimates for Friends with Kids and Seeking Justice are not currently available.

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Related Chart:

Grosses for Friday, March 16, 2012