| Film | Weekend | Per Screen | Total | |
| 1 | Shrek Forever After | $71,250,000 | $16,345 | $71,250,000 |
| 2 | Iron Man 2 | $26,600,000 (-48.9%) | $6,368 | $251,265,000 |
| 3 | Robin Hood | $18,700,000 (-48.1%) | $5,335 | $66,100,000 |
| 4 | Letters to Juliet | $9,100,000 (-32.8%) | $3,059 | $27,400,000 |
| 5 | Just Wright | $4,225,000 (-49.0%) | $2,307 | $14,631,000 |
| 6 | MacGruber | $4,100,000 | $1,607 | $4,100,000 |
| 7 | Date Night | $2,825,000 (-26.1%) | $1,512 | $90,660,000 |
| 8 | A Nightmare on Elm Street | $2,285,000 (-50.9%) | $1,075 | $59,931,000 |
| 9 | How to Train Your Dragon | $1,850,000 (-63.0%) | $1,057 | $210,940,000 |
| 10 | Kites | $1,035,000 | $4,976 | $1,035,000 |
This just in: The kindness of strangers.
There are a couple modes of thought about the Shrek franchise. There are those who hated it from the outset, those that felt the first film pitted the franchise as the Warner Brothers sensibility against Pixar’s more Disney-ish heart but also thought all the sequels were terrible, and those that liked the first and second film. No one -it seems – liked the third film. And even with 3-D, a reasonably short running time and Imax screens, it did not do business to compare to the the second (opened to $108 Million, finished at $441 Million) or third film (opened to $122 Milion, finished at $322 Million). Such means that it might not be until Friday that the film crosses $100 Million, though with Memorial Day, the film will likely cross $150 by the end of next weekend/Monday. With Toy Story 3 on the horizon, the film has a limited window, and then there’s also Marmaduke and The Karate Kid remake. So I don’t know how much more over $200 this does, but $300 Million seems out of the question. The franchise peaked with the second film, and that had a lot to do with the positive reaction to the first film.
Iron Man 2 is winding down, though it may flat-line next weekend. It should get over $300, but that’s the last significant marker it will hit. If Robin Hood gets a solid Memorial day bounce, it won’t have to limp to $100, which is a terrible gross for this film, but it’s all about the global total (which is already much stronger than domestic). Letters to Juliet should be able to cross $40, and Just Wright could limp past $20 Million. Both are likely to turn a profit considering the cost to make them.
MacGruber. I think it’s safe to blame the low production cost on this one. Well, there’s a number of different factors, like Will Forte having a sort of Tim Meadow-ish stigma of not being a real leading man, or Universal not screening it, or putting out in the middle of summer with mostly Internet hype. I thought the movie was hysterical, but I guess this will be a cult classic if anything. Date Night is going to try and limp to $100. PRIDE. Pride is what makes that happen (it should flat-line over the four day which will put it near $95 Million, and then…). Though A Nightmare on Elm Street did not tank or anything like it, it’s a break-even at best, and more of a “take the money and run” situation.
Kites did surprisingly well for a Brett Ratner presented Bollywood film. It may hang out in the bottom for another week.
Hypothetical: would anyone be surprised if Sex and City 2 outperformed Prince of Persia next weekend?