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Shrek farts and burps its way to $122 million

Kim Hollis: On July 4, 2006, no film had ever earned over $115 million at the box office. This weekend, Shrek the Third became (fittingly enough) the third movie in ten months to do so. It earned $122 million from 4,122 venues. What in the world is going on?

Joel Corcoran: Studios are putting out better movies that people are willing to see. Also, keep in mind that all three of the movies you mention, Kim, are from established franchises with distributors that know how to market the hell out of any film.

David Mumpower: We are seeing a wonderful combination for distributors and exhibitors. There are finally movies worth getting excited about being released after that horrible lull in the post-Lord of the Rings era. In addition, a combination of ticket price inflation and cineplex mega-blockbuster improvements that has led to this sort of uber-opening era.

Reagen Sulewski: Franchises continue to be a license to print money for studios - provided they don't screw them up. The guy that figures out exactly what the formula for a franchise is will be a very rich dude.

Kim Hollis: Movies like Pirates, Shrek and Spider-Man have become family events. It's something the entire group can do together to have fun and it's an easy, stress-free decision. People are justifiably excited to see movies again, and part of this is thanks to exhibitors making a real effort to provide a great experience - whether it's IMAX, 3-D, digital, or whatver.

Tim Briody: The three biggest movie franchises, well, ever (I'm going to get some hate mail for that one) decided to all release their third movies in the month of May 2007. It is basically safe to say that no other month will ever come close to matching the amount of money made at the box office.

David Mumpower: Joel and Tim both make a good point. There is that weird situation where the stars aligned in such a way that three films of impeccable pedigree were all determined to be bulletproof. BOP has always opined that competition is overrated, and DreamWorks, Sony and Disney have all been kind enough to take this premise to its logical extreme in May.

Tim Briody: Though it's not like Spider-Man was competition for Shrek this weekend. The real fun is this weekend when Shrek the Third's second weekend meets Jack Sparrow.

Joel Corcoran: That's another good point, Kim. I think these three films - and the franchises overall - define "fun for the whole family." Even though I still think Spider-Man 3 sucked.





David Mumpower: Tim, I disagree with you on that point. The Spider-Man franchise's performances have always been best described as family film behavior. They have had huge internal multipliers (generally in the 3.7 range) and have had massive legs...until the third one. Its behavior is frankly a model we have never seen before, at least not on this scale. I call this model, "TIMBEEEEEEEER!"

Tim Briody: Right, I was referring to Spider-Man 3's definite lack of said legs.

David Mumpower: These are Born on the Fourth of July legs.

Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy challenge Tom Hanks and Tim Allen to a grudge match

Kim Hollis: In addition to being the third biggest opener of all-time, Shrek the Third is now the most successful animated opening of all-time. Shrek 2 also already held the record for most box office (domestically and worldwide) for an animated film. What is it about Shrek that makes it so consistently popular, especially compared to Pixar and Disney films?

Tim Briody: Honestly, I'm not really sure. They're cute, entertaining and funny enough, but for Shrek 2 to outgross all of Pixar's releases is a bit of a headscratcher.

Kim Hollis: More poop jokes.

David Mumpower: I wish I could quantify that. I honestly do. I watch Shrek films and I simply don't understand the appeal. They strike me as inferior copies, dumbed down clones if you will, of Pixar's masterpieces. The fact that Shrek 2 made $35 million than Finding Nemo still blows me away three years later, as does a $122 million opening.

Reagen Sulewski: I compare Shrek to Pixar as Family Guy is to the Simpsons. The Shrek films appeal directly to the "Oh, I get jokes" crowd.

Joel Corcoran: I think the writing definitely supports Shrek's success. The scripts for these films consistently hit on a whole range of humor that can easily appeal to a variety of audiences - there's slapstick, pop culture "in jokes," and sly comments that only adults might truly get. Pixar and Disney attempt to do the same thing, but just not quite as well.

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