Box Office: Three-peat for 'Shrek' as 'Get Him to The Greek' sneaks by 'Killers'

Shrek can't believe it.  He never thought "Shrek Forever After" would top the box office for three weeks in a row.

Credit: DreamWorks Animation

It's a sad snapshot of the summer box office that "Shrek Forever After" has now topped the charts for the third weekend in a row and is still considered a major disappointment.

The promised "final chapter" in the "Shrek" saga found another $25.3 million or a new total of $183 million.  With stiffer competition in the weeks ahead (including "Toy Story 3"), a $225 million or more final gross is the best DreamWorks Animation can hope for at this point.

Before the weekend began, many observers thought it was a crapshoot which of the four new releases would do over $15 million.  The clear winner was "Get Him to The Greek."  The best news Universal Studios has had in ages, the comedy pulled in $17.4 million, an opening comparable to "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" two years ago. It's a solid, but not spectacular start that could lead to a rare profitable end for the studio in 2010.

In third place with only $16.1 million was the Katherine Heigl/Ashton Kutcher action comedy "Killers."  It's been pointed out that Kutcher isn't getting enough blame for the picture (he was a producer), but the fact remains it's Heigl's first bomb at the box office.  "Knocked Up," "27 Dresses" and "The Ugly Truth" all opened to better reviews and $20 million plus in the first three days.

"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" slid into fourth place with $13.9 million on the weekend after better than expected Saturday matinees.  That put it just ahead of "Sex and the City 2" which did a so-so $12.6 million for a new cume of $73.4 million.  The overly criticized sequel should end up between $90-100 million when all is said and done.

Among other openers, "Marmaduke" was for the dogs -- literally - as it pulled in just $11.3 million.  "Splice," one of the better reviewed openers, made just $7.5 million, but had a rare jump Friday to Saturday for a horror film which could mean good word of mouth.  

Next weekend's new films including "The A-Team" and "The Karate Kid." Both are expected to make a big impact with moviegoers.

Final box office results are released on Monday.