Shrek the Third set a new 3-day opening record for animated films earning an estimated $122 million over the past weekend, eclipsing Shrek 2's previous record of $108 million.  Despite mediocre reviews (only 44% positive on the Rotten Tomatoes Website) the third film in the Shrek franchise solidified the green ogre's spot on the throne of the animation kingdom (the biggest opening for a non-Shrek animated feature is The Incredibles' $70.5 million).  Will Shrek the Third demonstrate the 'legs' that its predecessors had, or like Spider-Man 3 will it prove to be the most front-loaded film in the franchise?  Like Spidey 3 the new Shrek will soon face stiff competition from the opening of another blockbuster sequel (Pirates of the Caribbean 3), but Shrek's strong opening marks the third straight weekend during which the combined grosses of the top 10 films were markedly better than they were a year ago, continuing the powerful trend that the Hollywood studios have established in 2007, which appears at this stage to be a strong comeback year after a very disappointing 2006. 

Although merchandise sales for sequels tend to drop off rather quickly, Shrek the Third's successful opening could translate into strong sales for an abundance of tie-in merchandise including trading cards from Inkworks, a variety of books from Harper Collins (Movie Storybooks, Junior Novel, etc.), a board game (Shrek Monopoly newly issued by USAopoly), figures from MGA Entertainment, and video games from Activision.

Meanwhile Spider-Man 3 tumbled 51% in its third weekend earning an estimated $28.5 million and running its domestic cumulative to nearly $282 million.  It now appears that Spidey 3 will finish well south of the $400 million mark here, but the film has already earned $465 million overseas and is still on track to become the most successful film in the franchise in total worldwide box office receipts.

While the blockbuster sequels Shrek the Third and Spider-Man 3 have overcome lackluster reviews and posted the biggest openings in their respective franchises, the critically-favored 28 Weeks Later doesn't look like it will even come close to matching the $45 million box office total of its predecessor, 28 Days Later, even though the horror sequel posted a decline of just 48% (a very mild drop for a horror film) in its second weekend while earning $5.2 million and bringing its total to $18.6 million.