Shrek 4 and MacGruber Severely Disappoint at the Box Office

It was a down weekend at the box office with both new openings coming in way under industry expectations. Though the Shrek brand had been tarnished by the last release it was still thought to be strong enough especially considering a lack of competition and the opportunity to be buoyed by 3D ticket prices. Industry projections were were mostly in the $100 million range though some believed it could reach $130 million. It ended up taking in only $71.3 million.

It almost sounds unreasonable to say a movie that opens to $71 million is a huge disappointment but in the case of Shrek Forever After it is absolutely the case. The opening weekend ended up being $50 million less than Shrek The Third. The movie had a budget of $200 million and domestically it is unlikely that it will make that all back, though its prospects are still solid for when it hits DVD.

It is just shocking that even with the boost of higher ticket sales, most of which come from 3D screens and IMAX, it didn’t do better. Accounting for those higher ticket costs basically only half the number of people that went to the third Shrek went to this one. It was also the broadest animated release in history playing on 4359 screens with over 2300 of them being 3D. The franchise was already dead after this release anyway but it could be a sign of trouble for the spin-offs that are planned such as Puss in Boots (November 2011).

MacGruber is a certified bomb after opening to just $4.1 million. Most expectations were in the $10-15 million range. Despite this it isn’t a catastrophe as the movie was made on a modest $10 million budget. It might not even hit $10 million while in theaters and will see a quick shift to DVD where it may be able to pick up a cult-like following.

For the holdovers it was Iron Man 2 finishing in second place in its third weekend falling 48% to $26.6 million. The movie has totaled $251 million domestically. In its second weekend Robin Hood fell 48% to $18.7 million to total $66 million. It doesn’t appear it will even make back half of its $200 million budget.