Shrek 4 Tops US B-O at Weaker Opening

MAY 24, 2010 - Shrek Forever After opened far, far below the mighty starts of its predecessors, grossing an estimated US$71.3 million. Shrek the Third still holds the record for highest-grossing animated opening with US$121.6 million, followed by Shrek 2 at US$108 million and The Simpsons Movie at US$74 million. Shrek Forever After ranks fourth on that list, although, in terms of estimated attendance, it would barely make the Top 20.


The weekend's other new nationwide release, MacGruber, imploded with an estimated US$4.1 million at 2,551 sites, which was a fraction of Austin Powers and Undercover Brother and not much better than Delta Farce among past comparable May titles.

Here is the Top 6 North American B-O estimates for May 21 - 23, 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 (Par/Dreamworks) $71.2 million ($71.2 mil) 1

2. Iron Man 2 (Paramount) $26.6 million ($251.6 mil) 3

3. Robin Hood (UIP) $18.7 million ($66.1 million) 2

4. Letters To Juliet (Summit) $9.1 million ($27.4 million) 2

5. Just Wright (Fox) $4.2 million ($14.6 million) 2

6. MacGruber (Uni) $4.1 million ($4.1 mil) 1