'Sex' and 'Prince Of Persia' Overtaken by Shrek

MAY 31, 2010 - Jerry Bruckheimer's Prince Of Persia and Sex And The City 2 are overtaken by green ogre Shrek at the North American box-office over the Memorial Day weekend.

However, the Memorial Day weekend is shaping up to be the lowest-grossing in nine years and the slowest in at least 15 years in terms of estimated attendance. Overall business was down around 20 per cent from the same period last year. The simple reason for this is the movies themselves: an indifference-inspiring brew of tepid holdovers and non-event new releases.

Shrek Forever After won the weekend by default, not because it exhibited any particular strength. The animated sequel grossed an estimated US$43.3 million Friday-to-Sunday, off 39 per cent from its opening weekend.

Sex and the City 2 grossed an estimated US$32.1 million on approximately 6,100 screens at 3,445 locations, bringing its total to US$46.3 million since its Thursday debut. That's a huge step backwards from the first Sex and the City, which bagged US$57 million on its first weekend.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time mustered an estimated US$30.2 million on around 5,600 screens at 3,646 locations. That was far less than any Pirates of the Caribbean or Mummy movie.

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for May 28 - 30, 2010 weekend, in terms of rank, Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo.

1. Shrek Forever After (Paramount/Dreamworks) $43.3 million ($133.0 mil) 2

2. Sex In The City 2 (WB) $32.1 million ($46.3 mil) 1

3. Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time (BV) $30.1 million ($30.1 mil) 1

4. Iron Man 2 (Paramount) $16.0 million ($274.6 mil) 4

5. Robin Hood (UIP) $10.3 million ($83.0 million) 3