"21 Jump Street" vaults to top of North America box office

 　　LOS ANGELES, March 18 (Xinhua) -- "21 Jump Street" opened in the first place this weekend, garnering¹ 35 million U.S. dollars in ticket receipts as was widely expected. Holdover "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" continued to cast a spell on moviegoers, as it finished in the second place during the box office derby.

　　An R-rated action comedy starring Jonah Hill ("Moneyball") and Channing Tatum ("The Vow²"), "21 Jump Street" outpaced previous expectations with a solid per-location average of 11,214 dollars from 3,121 venues³ in the United States and Canada, performing better than expected to represent distributor Sony/Columbia's third number one debut⁴ of the year. It is also the second highest- grossing movie for Tatum in less than two months after "The Vow."

　　The film deals with a pair of underachieving cops who were sent back to a local high school to blend in and bring down a synthetic⁵ drug ring. It appeals mainly to young audiences. Fifty-three percent was male and a half was under 25 years old. Early reception from the moviegoers was very positive, with those who has seen it gave it a "B" CinemaScore.

　　Illumination Entertainment/Universal's computer animated⁶ blockbuster "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" still kept its appeal among audiences, taking in 22.8 million dollars to claim the second spot. It is on track for a 158.4 million dollar gross over 17 days in exhibition.

　　Disney's "John Carter" fetched 13.5 million dollars in receipts, crossing the 50 million dollar North America mark this weekend. The expensive sci-fi actioner, which took more than 250 million dollars to produce, is certain to go down as one of the biggest box office flops⁷ of the year.

　　Warner Bros.' low budget R-rated comedy "Project X" finished in fourth with 4 million dollars in sales this weekend. "A Thousand Words," Eddie Murphy's vehicle which was distributed by Paramount⁸, was fifth with a 3.8 million dollar weekend.

　　Rounding out the top 10 most popular films of North America this weekend were "Act of Valor⁹" (3.7 million dollars); "Safe House" (2.8 million dollars); "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" ( 2.5 million dollars); "This Means War" (2.1 million dollars), and "Silent House" (2 million dollars).

1 garnering   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• And at the forefront was Bryant, garnering nothing but praise from his coaches and teammates. 而站在最前沿的就是科比，他也因此获得了教练和队友的赞美。 来自互联网

2 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

3 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

4 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

5 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

6 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

7 flops   

n.失败( flop的名词复数 )v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的第三人称单数 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• a pair of flip-flops 一双人字拖鞋
• HPC environments are often measured in terms of FLoating point Operations Per Second (FLOPS) . HPC环境通常以每秒浮点运算次数(FLOPS)加以度量。 来自互联网

8 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

9 valor   

n.勇气，英勇

参考例句：

• Fortitude is distinct from valor.坚韧不拔有别于勇猛。
• Frequently banality is the better parts of valor.老生常谈往往比大胆打破常规更为人称道。