Movieline

Weekend Receipts: Shrek the Third

    • Not once in 2009 did a movie lead the box office for three or more straight weeks. Here in 2010, though, that trick has been turned by Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and now Shrek Forever After -- the animated sequel easily held off newcomers Get Him to the Greek and Killers to retain the top spot for a third straight week. And while other new releases Marmaduke and Splice failed to crack the top-ten, the biggest loser of the weekend was -- once again -- MacGruber: The comedy shed over 2,300 screens and dropped 93.9 percent in its third week. Yikes squared. Say a prayer for Will Forte and click ahead for some weekend receipts.

    1. Shrek Forever After

    Gross: $25,300,000 ($183,043,000)

    Screens: 4,386 (PSA: $5,768)

    Weeks: 3 (change: -41.6%)

    If Shrek Forever After was called Big Green Monster and The Donkey, people would be discussing it with the same breathless excitement that they used for Dreamworks Animation's leggy spring hit, How to Train Your Dragon. Alas, because it's part of the Shrek series, it still hasn't gotten much respect. This gross is being helped by 3D ticket prices -- and serious lack of competition -- but Shrek Forever After should still easily crack $220 million and has an outside chance of $250 million. Not Shrek numbers, but definitely worth a hearty "ka-ching!"

    2. Get Him to the Greek

    Gross: $17,423,000 (new)

    Screens: 2,697 (PSA: $6,460)

    Weeks: 1

    Comparison time! Get Him to the Greek opened to just about $300,000 less than Forgetting Sarah Marshall did two years ago, but it did so on roughly 200 less screens. So, wash? As with most comedies from the Judd Apatow Factory -- the hirsute Grand Poobah executive produced Greek -- word of mouth will be the key for further success or failure.

    3. Killers

    Gross: $16,100,000 (new)

    Screens: 2,859 (PSA: $5,631)

    Weeks: 1

    This is the part where all the people who hate Katherine Heigl say that she experienced her first bomb. And certainly Killers is disappointing -- it's Heigl's lowest opener since becoming a legitimate movie star in Knocked Up. And yet, did anyone even think Killers would gross this much? That it was almost able to topple the more hyped Get Him to the Greek has to be considered a win in its own right.

    4. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

    Gross: $13,900,000 ($59,452,000)

    Screens: 3,646 (PSA: $3,812)

    Weeks: 2 (change: -53.8%)

    If this was the springtime, then maybe Prince of Persia could hold its head high. As a summer blockbuster though, it's a washout. Is it too late for Jake Gyllenhaal to play Spider-man?

    5. Sex and the City 2

    Gross: $12,650,000 ($73,434,000)

    Screens: 3,445 (PSA: $3,672)

    Weeks: 2 (change: -59.2%)

    The good news is that Sex and the City 2 "only" dropped 59 percent from its opening weekend, a better hold than the first film had in 2008. The bad news? It's now running about $26 million behind its predecessor, meaning it's hard to imagine Sex and the City 2 crossing $100 million domestically. Carrie and Friends might be critic-proof, but they certainly aren't audience-proof.

    [Numbers via Box Office Mojo]