It's All About "Shrek" At The Box Office

Animated Ogre's Third Installment Bumps Spider-Man's 3rd Film

(AP)  The big green ogre keeps getting bigger.

"Shrek the Third" took in $122 million in its first weekend, breaking the franchise's own record for best debut ever for an animated film, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The latest adventure of the ogre shot past 2004's "Shrek 2," the previous record-holder for animated openings with $108 million.

Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount, "Shrek the Third" was the third-biggest debut ever, coming in behind the $151.1 million haul of this month's "Spider-Man 3" and the $135.6 million gross of last summer's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

Executives at DreamWorks Animation and Paramount had expected "Shrek the Third" to open more in range with the debut of "Shrek 2."

"The opening was significantly beyond our expectations," said Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks Animation. "The movie played much more like an all-audience movie. It played broadly to general and family audiences."

Adding in $900,000 the movie grossed during previews Thursday night, "Shrek the Third" has taken in $122.9 million.

Factoring in higher admission prices, "Shrek the Third" also drew more fans — 18 million — than did "Shrek 2," which pulled in 17.4 million people over opening weekend.

"Shrek the Third" also took in $13.3 million in four overseas markets: Russia, Ukraine, Romania and the Philippines. The film rolls out to most major countries between mid-June and early July.

The movie reunites Mike Myers, who provides the voice of the lovably gruff ogre, and co-stars Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas. Justin Timberlake joins the cast, providing the voice of the future King Arthur, an awkward teen Shrek grooms to rule the land.

After ruling the box office for two weekends, Sony's "Spider-Man 3" slipped to second place with $28.5 million, raising its domestic total to $281.9 million. Worldwide, "Spider-Man 3" has taken in $747 million.

"Shrek the Third" could have a short reign as the No. 1 movie. On Friday, Disney releases "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," with Johnny Depp returning as woozy buccaneer Jack Sparrow in the franchise's third installment.

Box-office analysts say "At World's End" has a shot at breaking the debut record of "Spider-Man 3," though it faces stiff competition from the Spidey sequel and "Shrek the Third." "At World's End" also runs nearly three hours, limiting the number of screenings theaters can fit in each day.

"The third film of this massive triumvirate is on the way. Given the strength of `Spider-Man 3' and `Shrek the Third,' anticipation is running extremely high for `Pirates 3,"' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "Both `Spider-Man' and `Shrek' exceeded expectations, so who knows with `Pirates'? The marketplace is just exploding right now."

Like "Spider-Man 3," "Shrek the Third" boosted the overall box office. The top 12 movies took in $172.9 million, up 12 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when "The Da Vinci Code" opened at No. 1 with $77.1 million.

In limited release, Fox Searchlight's Irish music romance "Once" debuted strongly with $60,511 in two theaters in New York City and Los Angeles. The low-budget film stars Glen Hansard of the rock group the Frames as a Dublin street musician who falls for a Czech immigrant and collaborates with her to write and record songs.

A critical favorite that came out of last January's Sundance Film Festival, "Once" expands to 11 more cities Friday.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Shrek the Third," $122 million.

2. "Spider-Man 3," $28.5 million.

3. "28 Weeks Later," $5.15 million.

4. "Disturbia," $3.7 million.

5. "Georgia Rule," $3.5 million.

6. "Fracture," $2.4 million.

7. "Delta Farce," $1.8 million.

8. "The Invisible," $1.3 million.

9. "Hot Fuzz," $1.26 million.

10. "Waitress," $1.14 million.

[samthetvcat]

omg - I finally got to see Spiderman 3 and it was so lame. Well that's reassuring to hear Shrek 3 was way better . . . never hurts to add a talking kitty :)

Not so sure about the Pirates movie, but I'm looking forward to Brad Pitt and Matt Damon in Oceans 13! Yum! Also Fantastic 4 looks like it might be cool. But yeah, lets see some new movies for a change? Weren't they going to do a Wonder Woman?

[shutupfreak]

SHREK ROCKS!!!!! Good on all the actors/actresses who took part, FANTASTIC!!! Thise trilogy is wonderful, and the fresh take with all the familiar characters is entertaining. Love the new characters!!! Bring on #4!!!!

[blackbug99]

Who cares? Shrek III, Spiderman III...How about an original movie at #1. It seems all the writing talent in Hollywood is involved in making sequels.