Early B.O.: 'John Carter' pacing at $30 mil range

Disney's large-budget 'John Carter' is on the right track to gross roughly $$ 30 million a few days ago, arriving at #2 behind U's 'Lorax' (roughly $40 million).Disney's $250 million "John Carter" is off and away to a rocky start in the domestic B.O., using the three dimensional fantasy epic monitoring for any $28 million to $32 million weekend. Universal's "The Lorax" should easily win the weekend with roughly $40 million, based on estimations according to early Friday returns. For several weeks, Hollywood has thought the large-budget "Carter" would be a bust -- even though the sci-fi pic is fairing "slightly much better than expected," per experts, the studio seems to become many years from turning an income.Dependent on author Edward Grain Burroughs' 100-year-old material and getting no major stars, "John Carter" is a challenging pic to promote for that Mouse House. Last May, the studio transformed the title from the pic from "John Carter of Mars" to merely "John Carter" to distance the pic from paltry artist "Mars Needs Moms," which converted into a $100 million-plus write-off for Disney this past year."Carter," directed by Pixar vet Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo," "Wall-E"), stars Taylor Kitsch and informs the storyline of the Civil War vet who's adopted to Mars, where he finds themself in the center of an inter-species war.The NY Occasions known as the film "Untidy and chaotic but additionally colorful and type of fun" along with a 50% fresh rating on Rotten Tomato plants suggest other experts are simply as mixed.Overseas, the pic opened for an impressive $6.5 million in three dimensional-happy Russia, but other areas could pose a larger challenge.Meanwhile, U's "Lorax" is holding perfectly, using the Dr. Seuss pic only shedding 41% week-to-week, putting the $70 million Imagination Entertainment toon on componen to eclipse "John Carter" because the #1 pic locally.Other new releases, Par's Eddie Murphy-starrer "A 1000 Words" and Open Road's "Quiet House" are monitoring just below $7 million for that frame. Contact Stuart Oldham at stuart.oldham@variety.com