3-D ‘Shrek Forever After’ pops into top spot at box office with $70.8M opening

3-D ‘Shrek’ tops box office with $70.8M opening

LOS ANGELES — “Shrek Forever After” stomped all over the competition at the box office with a $70.8 million debut. The fourth film in the DreamWorks Animation franchise, starring the voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy, had the fourth-best opening ever for an animated film, behind the second and third “Shrek” movies and “The Simpsons Movie.”

Last week’s No. 1, “Iron Man 2,” dropped a spot after two weeks on top. The Paramount superhero sequel has now made over $251 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. “Shrek Forever After,” Paramount, $70,838,207, 4,359 locations, $16,251 average, $70,838,207, one week.

2. “Iron Man 2,” Paramount, $26,361,258, 4,177 locations, $6,311 average, $251,026,061, three weeks.

3. “Robin Hood,” Universal, $18,769,220, 3,505 locations, $5,355 average, $66,165,690, two weeks.

4. “Letters to Juliet,” Summit, $9,006,266, 2,975 locations, $3,027 average, $27,332,507, two weeks.

5. “Just Wright,” Fox Searchlight, $4,290,431, 1,831 locations, $2,343 average, $14,697,071, two weeks.

6. “MacGruber,” Universal, $4,043,495, 2,551 locations, $1,585 average, $4,043,495, one week.

7. “Date Night,” Fox, $2,913,504, 1,869 locations, $1,559 average, $90,748,818, seven weeks.

8. “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” Warner Bros., $2,321,388, 2,125 locations, $1,092 average, $59,967,500, four weeks.

9. “How to Train Your Dragon,” Paramount, $1,901,211, 1,751 locations, $1,086 average, $210,990,918, nine weeks.

10. “Kites,” Reliance Big Pictures, $958,673, 207 locations, $4,631 average, $958,673, one week.

11. “The Back-Up Plan,” CBS Films, $942,939, 1,079 locations, $874 average, $35,919,707, five weeks.

12. “Babies,” Focus, $725,266, 395 locations, $1,836 average, $5,102,395, three weeks.

13. “Death at a Funeral,” Sony Screen Gems, $537,573, 561 locations, $958 average, $41,463,030, six weeks.

14. “Furry Vengeance,” Summit, $531,018, 1,369 locations, $388 average, $16,131,784, four weeks.

15. “Alice in Wonderland,” Disney, $484,757, 411 locations, $1,179 average, $332,194,266, 12 weeks.

16. “The Secret in Their Eyes,” Sony Pictures Classics, $446,549, 141 locations, $3,167 average, $2,692,960, six weeks.

17. “Clash of the Titans,” Warner Bros., $365,731, 412 locations, $888 average, $160,965,313, eight weeks.

18. “Oceans,” Disney, $351,178, 524 locations, $670 average, $18,524,665, five weeks.

19. “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” Music Box Films, $342,837, 178 locations, $1,926 average, $6,274,044, 10 weeks.

20. “Hubble,” Warner Bros., $291,047, 48 locations, $6,063 average, $6,377,161, 10 weeks.

Online:

www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney’s parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.