Other Crap

Weekend Box Office Results for May 18–20, 2007

As has always happened with the Shrek franchise, the green fella outperformed expectations. Shrek 2 did better than predicted in every way - better opening, smaller drops, better longevity, you name it. Shrek 3 couldn't catch people totally by surprise as its predecessors did, but it still exceeded predictions. It had the third-highest opening weekend in history, which may actually have been the highest if measured by the number of tickets sold, since kids' tickets cost less. It is also packing 10 PM and midnight shows, indicating a wide demographic sweep beyond the kiddies. It also posted the third-highest market share of all time. What can ya say? People love Shrek. This one outperformed Shrek 2's opening weekend by 13% - and Shrek 2 went on to gross $441 million! (Although it's not apples-to-apples, because some of the Shrek 2 box office was siphoned off by a Wednesday opening.)

I haven't seen any of the Shrek films! If they are as much fun as everyone says, I'll have a real treat for myself one of these days.

The overall box office exhibited a double-digit increase over last year for the third straight week. Next week should be very impressive, possibly a record-breaker since Shrek should hold at least $50 million, Spidey should retain at least $10m, and Cap'n Jack is shooting for the $151 record! Those three figures alone would be enough for the all-time record, besting the weekend when Pirates 2 opened on top of Superman Returns.

The only other item of interest this week is that Waitress came out of nowhere to sneak into the top ten, despite being in only 115 theaters! It finished second in average revenues per theater, besting even the ol' Wall-Crawler. It will expand to 500+ screens next week, further adding to the lines at the theaters!