Weekend Box Office: Shrek Wins Again in Underwhelming Weekend

There were two big releases this past weekend – Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Sex and the City 2 – but both underwhelmed at the box office, leaving Shrek Forever After to once again claim the top spot. Prince of Persia and SATC 2 earned $37.8 million and $37.1 million, respectively, which might not sound so bad at first, but there were big expectations for these two movies.

Prince of Persia is supposed to be the start of a franchise, and cost about $200 million to make, so it needs to pick up the pace. Sex and the City 2 was supposed to have a bigger opening based simply on its target audience (do I even have to clarify that it’s women?), but it would seem the negativity surrounding the movie is keeping people away.

MacGruber continues its free fall into film obscurity, as it took in only $1.95 million, bringing its total to a measly $7.6 million. Date Night continues to chug along, taking in $2.25 million to close in on $94 million overall.

Next week sees four new releases in Get Him to the Greek, Splice, Marmaduke, and Killers. Of the four, Splice looks most intriguing, though something tells me Get Him to the Greek will be much better than the trailers let on.

Here are the rest of this weekend’s box office numbers:

1. Shrek Forever After – $55.6 M

2. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – $37.8 M

3. Sex and the City 2 – $37.1 M

4. Iron Man 2 – $20.2 M

5. Robin Hood – $13.6 M

6. Letters to Juliet – $7.25 M

7. Just Wright – $2.7 M

8. Date Night – $2.25 M

9. MacGruber – $1.95 M

10. How to Train Your Dragon – $1.43