Shrek Forever After took the weekend box office crown for the third weekend in a row.  The final film in the animated franchise declined 41.6% to earn an estimated $25.3 million.  The Shrek film has now amassed $183 million after 17 days in theaters.  In spite of the higher ticket prices for its 3D and IMAX showings it still trails Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third, which had earned $314.5 million and $255.9 million respectively in the same period. 

In spite of four new films debuting this weekend, the box office dropped big time for the second week in a row, down 24% from the same frame a year ago when The Hangover opened with $45 million and 29% from 2008 when Kung Fu Panda debuted with $60.2 million. After a very strong start to 2010, Hollywood is now badly in need of a potent summer blockbuster to resuscitate this all-important summer season.  Next week we will see if either The A-Team or The Karate Kid can fill the bill.

The raunchy R-rated comedy Get Him to the Greek, earned an estimated $17.4 million and managed the best per theater average in the top 10, but it clearly was no The Hangover.  The rock-themed Greek, which managed a 75% positive rating from Rotten Tomatoes, has room to grow over the coming weeks.  Its debut weekend audience skewed slightly male (53%) and older with 45% of the crowd over 30.

Lionsgate didn’t let critics see the action comedy Killers, which stars Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl, before it opened, which was probably a good thing since it only managed a 15% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  The PG-13 film earned an estimated $16.1 million, and like the heavily-panned Jennifer Anniston/GerardButler vehicle The Bounty Hunter, the star-driven Killers could prove to be more or less critic-proof, though it will lucky indeed to earn back its $75 million cost.

Disney’s Prince of Persia, which cost $200 million, is even less likely to break even.  Prince declined 53.8% in its second weekend while earning an estimated $13.9 million and bringing its cumulative to $59.4 million.

Sex and the City 2 suffered an even bigger drop, falling 59.2% and finishing in fifth place.   Fox’s family comedy Marmaduke, which is based on the long-running comic strip, debuted weakly in sixth place with an estimated $11.3 million, while the other newcomer, the cleverly-plotted neo-Frankenstein horror film Splice couldn't buck the conventional wisdom that says summer is a bad season for horror films.  Splice, which has the narrative moxie to become a cult hit on DVD, managed to bring in just $7.4 million and finished in eighth place.

The one film that has held up its end of the bargain so far this summer is Iron Man 2, which earned an estimated $7.8 million and brought its cumulative to $291.3 million.  Some time this week the Iron Man sequel should pass the $300 million mark.  It might be difficult to match the original Iron Man’s $318 million total, but Iron Man 2 will definitely be in the neighborhood.