While most of the projections for DreamWorks' Shrek the Third seemed to have been in the range of $100 to $115 million--here at the Weekend Warrior we low-balled it with $107.8 million--the ogre threequel opened with an estimated $40 million on Friday according to ShowBIZ Data, which is pointing to a weekend well above all predictions.
What does this mean for Shrek the Third's box office prospects? Right now, it's guaranteed to be Paramount and DreamWorks' biggest opening movie over Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds in 2005, and it's shooting for an opening that would put it in line as the second or third highest opening movie behind Spider-Man 3, which set a new record of $151 million two weeks ago.
Shrek 2 opened on a Wednesday and made nearly $21 million in its first two days and another $28.3 million on its first Friday. It ended up making $108 million in its first three-day weekend, roughly 3.8 times its first Friday. If Shrek the Third were to match that multiple, it would wind up with more than $150 million for the weekend, but chances are that it will be a bit more frontloaded to Friday without Wednesday and Thursday showings, so it will probably wind up somewhere between $125 and 135 million for the three-day weekend. That high range would put it in line to top PIrates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest as the 2nd highest opening movie of all time. Considering that most families with kids will be seeing it on Saturday and Sunday, it wouldn't be that big a surprise if it comes close to the previous opening record. Then again, it could perform more like last year's Ice Age: The Meltdown which only made 3.1 times its Friday opening over its first weekend. Some even think that Paramount might lowball the number on Sunday and then announce a bigger number on Monday when actual box office receipts are counted, much like Sony did with Spider-Man 3 did a few weeks back. Either way, Shrek the Third is guaranteed to be at least the third highest opening movie of all time and the highest opening animated movie.
Unfortunately, Shrek the Third's success has added to Spider-Man 3's downfall as it continues to drop with a staggering 54% drop from last Friday, and it's likely to wind up with around $27 million this weekend.
Comments (3)
I actually almost feel bad for Spiderman 3 with ALMOST being the key term in that phrase. I saw Spiderman 3 last weekend and to be honest, I didn't think it was that great. The movie would have been SO much better if they did the following things:
a) Cut out the Sandman plot completely thus reducing the number of villains from 3 to 2
b) Increase Venom's screen time. He is after all one of the more popular villains from the series.
Hopefully if they make a Spiderman 4,they won't jam pack as much into it as they did into this movie.
Posted by DeeDee![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.comingsoon.net/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 20, 2007 1:10 PM
That seems to be the main complaint with the movie....too much stuff going on, but I kind of dug that because I kind of got bored in the previous two movies with just Green Goblin and just Dr. Octopus...this allowed them to jump around and have a number of subplots just like the comics. I'm going to try to see it in IMAX tomorrow so we'll see if it stands up for a second viewing.
Posted by EDouglas![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.comingsoon.net/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 21, 2007 7:34 AM
I actually went to see Spiderman 3 again (Shrek the Third was sold out) and yeah my opinion hasn't changed still: if anything, I thought it was even more dull the second time around. However, Peter being a "bad boy" of sorts was definitely one of the better sequences and I think I laughed even harder this time than before.
With that being said, the whole Sandman plot was still unnecessary for me (Venom is just so much more fascinating) and some people may disagree with me on this but I thought Eddie Brock/Venom is severely miscast. I love Topher Grace to death but when I picture Venom, I don't see the spindly, nerdy teenager from That 70s Show.
Honestly, I wish I never saw it again but at least it cemented my opinion of it. Maybe the IMAX experience is better but I think I'm gonna stay away from Spidey 3 for awhile.
Posted by DeeDee![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.comingsoon.net/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 22, 2007 11:44 PM