Midlife crisis pays off for fourth 'Shrek'

LOS ANGELES - "Shrek Forever After" roared its way to the top of the box office, making $71.3 million in its opening weekend.

But the fourth film in the monster franchise from DreamWorks Animation had the weakest debut of all "Shrek" sequels, according to studio estimates Sunday. "Shrek 2," from 2004, opened with $108 million. "Shrek the Third," from 2007, made $121.6 million in its first weekend.

And the latest installment was available for the first time in 3-D and IMAX 3-D, where ticket prices are higher -- up to $19 in Manhattan. "Shrek" made just under $5 million on IMAX screens, or 7 percent of the film's weekend gross.

This time, Shrek -- voiced as always by Mike Myers -- is experiencing a midlife crisis, so he makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin to live as a fearsome ogre again for one day. Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas return to the voice cast.

Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com, said the cost of tickets may have been too high for some families.

Having said that, Dergarabedian said he expects "Shrek Forever After" will have legs throughout the summer, similar to another recent 3-D movie from DreamWorks Animation, "How to Train Your Dragon." It opened in March with $43.7 million and has gone on to make nearly $211 million.

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2. "Iron Man 2," $26.6 million.

3. "Robin Hood," $18.7 million.

4. "Letters to Juliet," $9.1 million.

5. "Just Wright," $4.2 million.

6. "MacGruber," $4.1 million.

8. "A Nightmare on Elm Street," $2.3 million.

9. "How to Train Your Dragon," $1.9 million.