MUMBAI: Sony and MGM‘s co-production 21 Jump Street opened to a stellar $35 million at the domestic box office.
 
Starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, the film bagged the best debut ever for a non-sequel, non-summer R-rated comedy and also as one of the best bows on the books for an action-buddy comedy or a television-to-film adaptation.

Overseas, Jump Street released in 11 markets grossing $7 million, including a standout $4.3 million in Australia, where it launched ahead of past R-rated comedies The Hangover, Tropic Thunder and Bad Teacher. In the UK, the film grossed $2.5 million.

The film easily wrested the domestic weekend crown from Universal and Illumination‘s hit Dr. Seuss‘ The Lorax, that has ruled the domestic box office the last two weekends.

On the No. 2 position, Lorax continued to do good business with $22.8 million in its third outing for a domestic gross of $158.4 million.

Disney‘s John Carter continued to struggle grossing $13.5 million in its second weekend for a weak 10-day domestic total of $53.2 million. Overseas, the film grossed $40.7 million including a strong $10.4 million debut in China for an international total of $126.1 million and worldwide gross of $179.3 million.

Even with the strong performances of Jump Street and Lorax, the domestic box office dipped behind last year‘s level for the first time this year. Revenue was down 8 per cent, due to less depth in the holdover marketplace. Box-office observers credit strong reviews and good word-of-mouth for Jump Street‘s better-than-expected numbers.