Shrek 2 proves to be a box office ogre

RECORD-BREAKING Shrek 2 cast a bigger box-office spell than first imagined, convincing distributor DreamWorks SKG that even grumpy green ogres can live happily ever after — at least for two more sequels.

Opening in a record 4,163 cinemas last Wednesday, the computer-animated storybook satire posted $129 million (€106.6m) in ticket sales during its first five days across North America, the most ever for a mid-week release.

The previous five-day record for a Wednesday opening was set in December by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which grossed $124.1m (€102.5m) through its first Sunday.

For the three days beginning Friday, the traditional start of the weekend box office, Shrek 2 generated $108m, making it the second-biggest opening ever, behind the $114.8m release of Spider-Man in May 2002.

It beat Spider-Man for the highest single-day gross. On Saturday, it earned $44.8m, compared to $43.6m for Spider-Man on its first Saturday.

“That’s better than anyone could have anticipated, even in our wildest dreams,” Jim Tharp, DreamWorks president of domestic theatrical distribution, said, as final weekend figures were issued on Monday showing higher receipts than were initially reported.

The head of DreamWorks animation, Ann Daly, said that with the success of Shrek 2, the studio would move ahead, one at a time, with plans for a third and fourth instalment.

“It wasn’t really advisable to start working on three and four until we knew that we actually had something in two, and certainly this weekend confirmed that we do,” she said.

Daly said DreamWorks was in final talks with the principal voice actors to return, including Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz as the newlywed green ogres with horn-shaped ears, Eddie Murphy as the talking donkey, and Antonio Banderas as the swashbuckling Puss in Boots.

Shrek 2 also set a new benchmark as the biggest animated debut of all time, topping the $70m bow of last year’s undersea adventure Finding Nemo, and marks the strongest 2004 opening so far, surpassing the $89.3m posted by Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ in February.

Paul Dergarabedian, head of box office tracking service Exhibitor Relations, said: “This was really the first family movie of the summer, and there was definitely a pent-up demand. You can see that reflected in these grosses.”

Shrek 2 is expected to hold up well next weekend as it competes for Memorial Day weekend business against the global warming disaster epic The Day After Tomorrow, hip-hop comedy, Soul Plane, and the female-driven comedy romance, Raising Helen.