"Shrek Forever After" Claims #1 Weekend Spot - "MacGruber" Bombs

[JamesG]

LOS ANGELES, May 23 (Reuters) - Shrek is not as green as he used to be.



Shrek Forever After, the fourth movie in DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc's (DWA.O) lucrative series about a jolly green giant, took the top spot at the weekend box office in North America, but it fell short of expectations, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

The film earned $71.3 million during its first three days of release, far short of industry predictions that it could surpass $100 million.





MacGruber, a comedy based on a "Saturday Night Live" skit came in at No. 6 with $4.1 million.

Pundits had forecast an opening in the high single digits for the low-budget movie. General Electric Co (GE.N)-owned Universal distributed on behalf of closely held financier Relativity Media.





The Bollywood movie Kites flew in at No. 10 with about $1 million from 208 theaters, reportedly the widest release of any Hindi film to date and the first time such a film has cracked the top tier.

The Las Vegas-set action romance was released by Reliance Big Pictures, a unit of Indian conglomerate Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.





USA Weekend Box-Office Summary
week of 21 May 2010


1. Shrek Forever After $71,250,000
2. Iron Man 2 $26,600,000 / $251,265,000
3. Robin Hood $18,700,000 / $66,100,000
4. Letters to Juliet $9,100,000 / $27,400,000
5. Just Wright $4,225,000 / $14,631,000
6. MacGruber $4,100,000
7. Date Night $2,825,000 / $90,660,000
8. A Nightmare on Elm Street $2,285,000 / $59,931,000
9. How to Train Your Dragon $1,850,000 / $210,940,000
10. Kites $1,037,000

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2353030520100523

[comedyfreak]

They should have waited til August to release this one. Way too much competition for it to score big.

[catlover79]

I'm guessing no one here is shocked.

[Jude The Obscure]

But with a budget of only $10 million, it can easily become profitable for the studio