Executives at DreamWorks Animation and Paramount were drinking green champagne this weekend thanks to Shrek the Third which debuted to an astounding $121.6M, according to final studio figures, over the Friday-to-Sunday period and $122.5M since its early launch at 10pm on Thursday night in about 1,000 theaters. Invading 4,122 total locations, the PG-rated toon averaged a stunning $29,507 per cinema and surpassed the $108M bow of 2004's Shrek 2 which previously held the record for the biggest animated opening. That film, which was the first in history to break the 4,000-theater threshold, debuted on a Wednesday and captured $129M over its five-day premiere period. The next biggest toon opening is $70.5M for the 2004 Disney/Pixar vehicle The Incredibles which just shows how different the league that the Shrek franchise lives in is.

Third also set new opening weekend records for both DreamWorks and Paramount beating Shrek 2 and War of the Worlds ($64.9M), respectively. The ogre sequel also generated the third best opening of all-time trailing only Spider-Man 3's $151.1M from earlier this month and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest's $135.6M from last July. That ranking should slip another spot next weekend after the new Pirates film sets sail.

The new ogre sequel grossed $907,000 on Thursday from night-before showings beginning at 10pm, hauled in $38.4M on Friday (its true opening day), surged 23% to $47.1M on Saturday, and dipped 23% on Sunday to $36.1M. Shrek 2, which opened on the same exact weekend three years ago, suffered a similar 22% Saturday-to-Sunday dip in its debut frame. The production budget on the new installment is estimated to be $160-170M.

Reuniting the voice talents of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and Antonio Banderas, Shrek the Third adds some new characters including a teen would-be king voiced by Justin Timberlake. The slender 92-minute film was not very well-liked by critics and earned the worst reviews for the franchise just as Spider-Man 3 did a couple of weeks ago. However, moviegoers again disregarded the critics and came out for some early summer fun dropping some mighty big bags of cash at multiplexes nationwide. Shrek dominated the attention of ticket buyers and accounted for about 70% of all sales for the Top 20.

Studio research showed that Fiona's hubby appealed to all audience segments becoming a true four-quadrant pic. Females made up 51% of the crowd and those over and under the age of 25 were evenly split. Teens, young adults, and families all came out in strong numbers. Those polled by CinemaScore gave the toon a B+ grade which is decent, but not spectacular. A fourth chapter of Shrek is already in development for a planned 2010 release.

Source: Box Office Guru"