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''Shrek 2'' overpowers ''Day'' at the box office | 144859__s2bor_l
WHAT A KICK After just 13 days, ''Shrek 2'' is poised to make more money than the original did in its entire run
By Dave Karger
Dave Karger
Dave Karger
Dave Karger, a senior writer at EW, also reports on box office and other movie- related matters on NBC's ''Today''

''Shrek 2'' continued to bring in the green over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, earning another $92.2 million, according to studio estimates, to top the box office charts for the second week in a row.

For the Friday-to-Sunday period, the sequel made $73.1 million, a slip of only 33 percent from its debut. After 13 days, ''Shrek 2'' has grossed an unbelievable $256.9 million, almost topping the $267.7 million the first ''Shrek'' earned in its entire run. On Saturday, its 11th day of release, ''Shrek 2'' became the second-fastest film to cross the $200 million mark, behind only ''Spider-Man,'' which accomplished that feat in only nine days two years ago. But its $73.1 million three-day tally topped ''Spider-Man'''s $71.4 million benchmark for the best second weekend ever. If ''Shrek 2'''s numbers hold, this will mark the second-biggest Memorial Day weekend gross for any film ever, just behind ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park'''s $92.7 million debut.

Second place went to the new action drama ''The Day After Tomorrow,'' which earned a fantastic $86 million. That's just about equal with last year's No. 1 Memorial Day film, ''Bruce Almighty,'' which opened with $85.7 million. Any other year, the superstorm flick would have easily scored the No. 1 position.

Brad Pitt's ''Troy'' slipped to third place with $15 million, ahead of the new Kate Hudson comedy ''Raising Helen,'' which managed a ho-hum $14 million debut. But the true flop of the weekend has to be Snoop Dogg's ''Soul Plane,'' which saw horrendous reviews and a minuscule $7 million opening over the four-day weekend. Apparently, it's not easy competing against the green.


Posted May 31, 2004 | Order Article Reprints