Two new wide releases stalled upon take-off allowing last weekend's champ Shrek Forever After [SHRK4] to remain atop the weekend box office. Families fueled the 3D animated film to an estimated $55.6 million over the 4-day holiday weekend. Shrek has totaled $145.4 million in 10 days. In a summer of mostly disppointments so far, the weekend box office is shaping up to be one of the weakest in nearly a decade.
In a close finish for second place, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time [PRSIA] looks to have a slight edge with an estimated $37.8 million over the long Memorial Day weekend. The audience for the action adventure skewed older guys at 58% male and 58% over the age of 25. With mixed word of mouth, the film is unlikely to be the franchise starter Disney hoped for.
Expected by nearly all to win the weekend, Sex and the City 2 [SATC2] instead fizzled with $37.1 million over 4-day long weekend. In hindsight, opening on a holiday weekend when the 90% women audience have other priorities may not have been the best choice. Warner Bros. did move up the release date to Thursday where it grossed $14.2 million in what turned out to be its best day. With terrible reviews, the sequel is unlikely to recover and match the take of the first film.
Iron Man 2 [IRNM2] blasted another $20.3M to bring its four-weekend total to $278.8 million.
| Rank | TITLE | F-S-S | TOTAL |
| 1 | SHREK FOREVER AFTER | $55,600,000 | $145,350,000 |
| 2 | PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME | $37,779,000 | $37,779,000 |
| 3 | SEX AND THE CITY 2 | $37,145,000 | $51,353,000 |
| 4 | IRON MAN 2 | $20,250,000 | $278,827,000 |
| 5 | ROBIN HOOD | $13,576,325 | $86,296,190 |
| 6 | LETTERS TO JULIET | $7,250,000 | $37,953,418 |
| 7 | JUST WRIGHT | $2,700,000 | $18,697,518 |
| 8 | DATE NIGHT | $2,250,000 | $93,947,708 |
| 9 | MACGRUBER | $1,947,690 | $7,598,025 |
| 10 | HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON | $1,425,000 | $213,029,000 |
| 11 | A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET | $1,145,000 | $61,924,000 |
| 12 | ALICE IN WONDERLAND | $673,000 | $333,104,000 |
Source: Exhibitor Relations Co.
Tag(s): SHRK4, PRSIA, SATC2, IRNM2