Weekend Box Office

Numbers here - what did people watch if they weren't taking pitch meetings this last weekend?

Most of them watched the 4th, extradimensionalized sequel to Shrek. Shrek Forever After took the weekend with $71 mil. A huge amount of money, but said to be a disappointment in Shrek terms. Looks like character parts for Mike Meyers from now on! Or God forbid, a sitcom. I'm offering a prize for whoever calls the network accurately.

Opening alllllll the way down at #6, another SNL alumnus brings stillborn franchise MacGruber to the big screen. Audiences, apparently fearing 180 explosions for punchlines, largely stayed away. It made $4 mil. At #10 is Kites, which is either a 3 hour Bollywood musical or a 90 minute re-edit with all the songs taken out, supervised by Brett Ratner. I think it's the original - the re-edit is supposed to premiere next week. Anyway, it's the opposite of Shrek Forever After - for a Bollywood movie to crack the top ten is quite an achievement, so even though it made under a million, it's doing fine.

Iron Man 2 grabs the number two spot with $26 million. It reportedly cost $200 million to make and has grossed $251 million to date, but remember that the theatres will wind up keeping half of that. However, once you factor in the DVD sales and overseas and halloween costumes... well let's put it this way, look forward to Iron Man 3.