For 'Shrek Forever After,' $71 million is a not-so-happy beginning

By Sarah Sluis

The second and third installments of Shrek both opened to over $100 million, so perhaps it's fitting that the final movie, Shrek Forever After, started winding things down, with a $71.2 million debut. DreamWorks

Animation probably saw the writing on the wall with Shrek 3, which earned just 2.6 times its opening weekend. By comparison, the first Shrek movie earned an astonishing 6.3 times its opening weekend, while Shrek 2 earned 4.1 times its opening weekend. Most animated movies have better-than-average holding power, but Shrek movies have started to play more like franchise blockbusters, drawing in first-week audiences but then failing to catch on among a wide audience or those who have grown tired of the franchise. Good reviews for the fourth film could help this movie in coming weeks, as will its three competition-free weekends before another 3D animated sequel hits the market, Toy Story 3. Even with diminished returns the fourth time around, if Shrek Forever After can bring in three times its opening weekend, it's set for over $200 million in the U.S.

"Saturday Night Live" skit-turned-movie MacGruber attracted just a small subset of SNL viewers for an

underwhelming $4.1 million weekend and sixth place finish. The comedy was the first SNL skit to be made into a movie in ten years, and its poor performance does not bode well for another skit adaptation to hit theatres. I personally was not even a fan of the skit, which was pretty one-note, and it appears many other viewers felt the same way and passed on the movie.

A Bollywood movie cracked the top ten this week. Kites brought in $1 million to debut in eighth place. Our critic Frank Lovece described the movie as "not what most audiences think of when they think Bollywood," but the Bollywood-lite emphasis on fate, romance, melodrama, and action may have been just what American audiences were looking for. An even shorter version, Kites: The Remix, will open this Friday, intent on attracting mainstream audiences.

The strongest returning films in the top ten were Letters to Juliet and Date Night. Letters to Juliet dropped just 32% to $9.1 million in its second weekend. Summit predicted strong word-of-mouth two weeks ago after holding sneak previews of the film, and it appears they were right. Date Night held steady with a 26% slide in its seventh weekend, earning $2.8 million. The stars of these two films are among my favorites and most "likable," which I think has something to do with their movies' holding power.

Among specialty films, Solitary Man had the highest per-screen average, $22,500. Michael Douglas "delivers one of the finest performances of his career," according to critic Kevin Lally. With an 81% positive Rotten Tomatoes rating, this movie is poised to do well in coming weeks.

This Friday, female audiences will finally have their turn to make a film go to number one with the debut of Sex and the City 2, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will seek to enchant younger-skewing and family audiences.

'Iron Man 2' bests 'Robin Hood'

By Sarah Sluis

Robin Hood bowed this weekend in second place, earning $37.1 million. The medieval action movie was no match for the second week of Iron Man 2. The sci-fi blockbuster dropped 59% in its second week to $53

million, easily beating Robin Hood. However, both sets of theatres were equally packed. Iron Man 2 brought in $12,000 per theatre, while Robin Hood averaged out at $10,000 per theatre. With almost 900 more locations, however, Iron Man 2 was able to rack up a $15 million lead over Robin Hood.

Romantic counterprogramming to the action fare also did well this weekend. Letters to Juliet led the pack with $13.7 million. Along with the undisclosed amount earned during last week's sneaks, this

modestly budgeted romantic drama should do quite well for Summit. It also cements Amanda Seyfried's star power. By comparison, the more established star Jennifer Lopez opened The Back-Up Plan to the tune of $12.2 million a few weeks ago. Seyfried did have the help of Vanessa Redgrave, however, to bring in Moms and older viewers (teens probably don't know who she is), so she can't take all the credit for the strong opening.

Just Wright, starring Queen Latifah, opened to $8.5 million with a per-screen average that matched that of Letters to Juliet. Both averaged around $4,600 per screen, a sign that Fox Searchlight made a wise decision when it pared the size of the release to 1,800 theatres.

Among returning films in the top ten, Date Night had one of the smallest drops, 26%, to $4 million in its sixth weekend. The comedy has earned $86 million in six weeks, higher than would be expected for a movie that opened at $25.1 million. An older-skewing audience and strong word-of-mouth have propelled this film ahead of similar comedies. CG animated How to Train Your Dragon added another $5.1 million in its eighth week, falling just 23%. The movie will probably take a big drop next week with the opening of DreamWorks Animation movie, Shrek Forever After.

On the specialty front, IFC Films' Looking for Eric and Daddy Longlegs both debuted in the $8,000 range, in one theatre apiece. Princess Kaiulani opened to a $5,500 per-theatre average in 33 locations for a total of $184,000.

This Friday, SNL skit-turned-movie MacGruber will open opposite America's favorite green monster in Shrek Forever After.

'Robin Hood' enters the action movie fray

By Sarah Sluis

Director Ridley Scott may not quite hit the bull's eye with Robin Hood (3,503 theatres), but the movie will provide stiff competition this weekend as it goes against the second weekend of Iron Man 2. Without a

"dramatic pulse," according to critic Ethan Alter, the origin tale proves to be most exciting at the beginning before settling into a "stultifyingly boring" second half. My guess is that Robin Hood will win the Friday box office before coming in second to Iron Man 2 over the weekend, but it's unclear exactly how the two films will stack up against each other.

Those in for a more romantic view of history can take in Letters to Juliet (2,968 theatres), a romance starring Amanda Seyfriend as an

American visiting Italy. She finds an old letter bemoaning a lost love and decides to track down and reunite the couple. Summit did advance screenings in several hundred theatres last weekend, with 70% of audiences reporting that they would give it positive word-of-mouth, so this could help boost its opening weekend--or drag it down, if many of the audience members managed to see it the previous weekend.

Queen Latifah stars as a sports trainer in Just Wright (1,831 theatres). After a basketball player (Common) is injured, she nurses him back to health and they spark to each other. The limited number

of theatres in release indicates that Fox Searchlight is focusing the release in cinemas that do strong business with black moviegoers--the so-called "Tyler Perry" audience. Our critic Shirley Sealy liked the performances of Common and Paula Patton but felt "her highness" Queen Latifah "couldn't be bothered" to turn in a nuanced performance.

On the specialty front, Princess Kaiulani will release in 33 theatres. The historical romantic drama of Hawaii's last princess is playing in two theatres in New York, four in L.A. and eight near Oahu, so the release skews toward the West Coast and in Hawaii, where Kaiulani is a household name. A local cast and use of the Hawaiian language add authenticity to the project, while the colonial-era story should appeal to "art-house patrons who appreciate period romance," according to critic Justin Lowe.

Dads who feel they can do no good will appreciate Daddy Longlegs (NYC), the uneven story of a divorced dad hanging out with his kids for two weeks. While "there's little more here than a picaresque slice of life with a paternal though not particularly skilled single dad," according to critic Frank Lovece, "the emotions play as real." Also playing in New York City is Looking for Eric, the tale of a depressed, working-class Englishman who receives "hilarious" advice from football player Eric Cantona.

On Monday, we'll see if Robin Hood exercised its box office muscle or if Russell Crowe should put away his quiver and bow to the titanium-plated Iron Man 2.