'21 Jump Street' tops box office at $35M

Audiences headed back to school for the TV update "21 Jump Street," which opened as the No. 1 weekend movie with $35 million, The Associated Press reports.

Sony's action comedy starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as cops going undercover as high school students took down the animated hit "Dr. Seuss' the Lorax," which was the top flick the previous two weekends.

Based on the 1980s TV show that made Johnny Depp a star, "21 Jump Street" casts Hill and Tatum as rookie cops posing as teens to root out crooks peddling a psychedelic new drug at a Los Angeles school.

Rather than doing a straight update of the TV show, Sony retooled "21 Jump Street" as a comedy, which helped pack in the under-25 crowd.

"I just think you had to make it relevant, and action comedy was the way to go," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony.