A quartet of new films failed to spark much interest at the North American box office this weekend as Dreamworks Animation’s Shrek Forever After stayed in the number one spot by a comfortable margin. Of the four new releases, Universal’s raunchy rock comedy Get Him to the Greek and Lionsgate’s Killers fared the best, while Fox’s Marmaduke and Warner’s Splice both bombed. Weekend business was not only down a hefty percentage from last weekend’s holiday sales, but it was also down a troubling 26% from last year at this time as the general public continues to just say no to a weak lineup of summer offerings.
The first of the franchise to stay at number one for three weeks running, Shrek Forever After added an estimated $25.3 million from 4,367 screens to bring its 17-day total to the $185 million mark. The film should pass the $200 million milestone by the start of next weekend. The estimated weekend take for Shrek 4 was close to the third weekend gross of Shrek The Third (which did $28.7 million in its third weekend), but is trailing that film’s overall gross by roughly $70 million. Until Toy Story 3 arrives in less than two weeks, Shrek should continue to reap the benefits of premium pricing for 3D and IMAX experiences.
Opening in second place was the Judd Apatow-produced comedy Get Him to the Greek with a decent $17.4 million from 2, 687 screens. Reuniting the director and two stars of the 2008 sleeper hit Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Greek received mostly positive reviews but was hindered by Universal’s ad campaign, which didn’t do a particularly good job at selling the movie to audiences. Word-of-mouth will be the determining factor in whether Greek manages to become a sleeper hit over the next few weeks.
One could argue that a lack of star power was a factor in the so-so debut of Get Him to the Greek. But having stars Katherine Heigl and Aston Kutcher (if you can actually consider him a star…or an actor) in the leads for the $75 million Lionsgate comedy Killers couldn’t help it bring in more than $16.1 million in its debut weekend from 2,859 screens. The True Lies wannabe wasn’t screened for critics, which is never a good sign. Having a potential new owner of Lionsgate, Carl Ichan, bad mouth the movie during an interview on CNN would be another. But one didn’t need critics or billionaires to let them know that the movie was a dog. The two-minute trailer or 60-second television spots were more than enough to keep people away.
In fourth place with a 54% drop from last weekend was Disney’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time with a $13.9 million weekend gross and a new ten-day total of approximately $60 million. Much like Universal’s Robin Hood, Persia is compensating for a lackluster domestic box office run with a more robust overseas gross. As of Thursday, Prince has bagged $100 million from foreign markets. Watch for the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced action flick to finish with roughly $80 million in domestic sales.
Also in its second weekend, Warner’s Sex and the City 2 broke a heel and fell 59% to an estimated $12.7 million from 3,445 screens and a new estimated total of $73.4 million. In comparison, the 2008 original grossed $21 million in its second weekend to bring its two-week take to $99 million. If the new film continues to free fall the way it currently is, it should finish in the $90-95 million range, roughly $50-52 million less than its predecessor. That still may be enough to trigger a Sex and the City 3.
In sixth place was Fox’s latest live-action talking animal comedy, Marmaduke, with an anemic $11.3 million from 3,213 screens. Hoping for another Garfield or Alvin and the Chipmunks, the family comedy had the biggest screen count of all of the new films released. However terrible reviews, the presence of Shrek Forever After and basing a movie on a comic strip character few kids (if any) know about kept the target demographic (families) away in droves. Fox might have been wiser to release this, ahem, dog in a less competitive time frame such as March or April.
Tony Stark landed in seventh place this weekend as Iron Man 2 added an estimated $7.8 million to its total, which now sits at approximately $291.2 million. The sequel should finish in the $305-310 million range. In eighth place was the Warner sci-fi flick Splice, which crashed and burned with an awful $7.45 million take from 2,450 screens despite overall decent reviews and an effective ad campaign. An acquisition from the film festival circuit, Warner’s low financial investment in the movie should be easy to recoup once video and cable television sales are factored into the mix down the road.
Inching closer to the $100 million domestic mark is Universal’s Robin Hood, off 51% to add an estimated $5.1 million to its coffers, which now stand at $94.2 million. As of last Thursday, the overseas haul for the Ridley Scott/Russell Crowe flick stood at $165 million. Rounding out the top ten this weekend was the Amanda Seyfried sleeper hit Letters to Juliet with a $3 million estimated weekend take and a new overall total of $43.3 million to date.
And in closing, let us take a moment to note the passing of Universal’s MacGruber, which lost 2,396 of its 2,546 screens this past weekend to drop 94% from last weekend to $96,000 and a new total of $8.4 million. Fare thee well, MacG.
Next weekend, Hollywood takes a nostalgia trip to the 1980s with the arrival of the big screen version of the television series The A-Team and the remake of the 1984 hit The Karate Kid.
Check back next week to predict what next weekend’s movies will make at the box office for a chance at Blu-ray prizes in our weekly Weekend Box Office Prophet Game.
– Shawn Fitzgerald
