None of the multiple new wide releases got off to a killer box office start Friday, with all four films forfeiting the top slot to “Shrek: The Final Chapter.”
“Shrek” added $6.5 million to its tab on its third Friday of release, besting the $6.2 million from top newcomer “Get Him to the Greek.”
With a nearly identical gross to the $6.0 million April 2008 opener for “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” (from which Russell Brand’s character in “Greek” spun off), “Greek” performed solidly for a Judd Apatow-produced comedy but did not electrify the way a hit summer release would.
Behind “Greek” was new release “The Killers,” which landed at $5.7 million. Close enough to “Greek” on Friday, the weekend battle between the young-adult-skewing films will likely be decided by date business Saturday.
The critically-panned “Marmaduke” was distantly behind with $3.4 million Friday, and though it might slightly narrow the gap with family matinée business, it is unlikely to salvage its disappointing opening weekend performance. “Splice” performed even worse, generating only $2.7 million.
“Sex and the City 2” was slightly stronger than those two new releases, although with only $4.4 million in receipts, it fell more than 65% from last Friday’s take. “Prince of Persia” was behind with $4 million
