The weekend Box Office numbers came out today. The new animated sequel, “Shrek Forever After,” also known as “Shrek: The Final Chapter,”sprinted to the finish line over the weekend with a $71 million debut – – to become the number one film in the country. However, there is a lot of disappointment and very faint applause for this final chapter in a very popular movie series.
The two previous Shrek flicks all had openings of over a $100 Million. Daniel Frankel over on The Wrap blames the weak performance of “Shrek 4” for a slide in the price of DreamWorks stock today. It could just be a slow start, like “How to Train Your Dragon.” That high-flying animated adventure opened with less than $50 million, but it caught on with movie fans and has earned $200 million at the domestic Box Office in little over two months.
Celebrity voices in “Shrek Forever After” include Mike Myers as Shrek, Eddie Murphy Donkey, Cameron Diaz Princess Fiona, Antonio Banderas Puss in Boots, and Julie Andrews as Queen Lillian. In this finale, Shrek ends up in a twisted version of his home land and must pullout all the stops to make things right and win the heart of his true love, Fiona, again.
Sci-fi thriller “Iron Man 2” dropped from first to second place with $26.3 million, followed by the epic adventure “Robin Hood,” which scored $19 million for third, the romantic drama. “Letters to Juliet” earned $9 million for fourth and in fifth place, the romantic comedy, “Just Wright” with $4.2 million.
