Despite stiff competition from the opening weekends of both Sex and the City 2 and Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time, Shrek Forever After has topped the US box office for a second weekend in a row. It’s bound to be a big disappointment for both Warner and Disney, who both had high hopes for their new films. It wasn’t a close run race either, with Shrek 4 taking $43 million, $10 million more than its nearest competition.
Sex and the City 2 took $32 million, $25 million less than the opening weekend of the first film starring Carrie and co., while Prince Of Persia had to settle for third place and a $30 million opening. Although these figures wouldn’t be bad for most movies, they’re undoubtedly disappointing for films for which there were such high expectations. Disney is likely to be particularly worried, as having spent over $200 million on Prince Of Persia, it’ll be lucky to make its money back at cinemas, particularly after weak openings over the last couple of weeks in Europe.
However, part of the reason two movies as big as SATC 2 and Prince Of Persia both opened on the same weekend is because it’s the four-day Memorial Day holiday in the US, traditionally seen as the biggest weekend of the year for movies. However this year’s films don’t seem to be doing particularly well. On the Memorial Day weekend last year, Night At The Museum II opened to over $70 million, with Terminator Salvation taking $51 million, while 2008 saw Indy 4 whip up over $100 million, and in 2008 Piates of the Caribbean 2 took over $114 million in its first three days.
The studios will now be hoping they can pick up some more holiday cash tomorrow, although it’s unlikely either of the two new movies will be able to overtake Shrek 4.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of May 28th-30th, 2010.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | Shrek Forever After | $43.3 | $133.0 |
| 2 | Sex and the City 2 | $32.1 | $46.3 |
| 3 | Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time | $30.1 | $30.1 |
| 4 | Iron Man 2 | $16.0 | $274.6 |
| 5 | Robin Hood | $10.3 | $83.0 |
| 6 | Letters To Juliet | $5.9 | $36.6 |
| 7 | Just Wright | $2.2 | $18.1 |
| 8 | Date Night | $1.7 | $93.4 |
| 9 | Macgruber | $1.4 | $7.1 |
| 10 | How To Train Your Dragon | $1.0 | $212.6 |