Friday Box Office Analysis (5/21)

Continuing its box office fury on Friday, Shrek 2 demolished everything in sight, delivering $27.9 million from a record 4,163 theaters, averaging $6,700 per-screen. The movie outpaced Toy Story 2?s $22.6 million ($6,986 per-screen) Friday figure (though that was in nearly 1,000 fewer theaters), and easily beat up Nemo ($20.2 million - $5,989 per-screen) to the core. The sequel even outdid Mike Myers? spy spoof, Austin Powers in Goldmember, which posted a $26.5 million opening night in 3,613 theaters for a $7,321 per-screen average.

The question from here on is whether Shrek will carry Harry Potter-like legs in the rest of its weekend holdup. Chamber of Secrets jumped 20% in its second day to $34.2 million ($9,292 per-screen) from its $28.6 million ($7,776 per-screen) Friday haul, while the original Potter leaped just 4%, though coming off a $32.3 million ($8,805 per-screen) opening day.

A bit lower on the scale, Finding Nemo jumped 39% to $28.0 million ($8,302 per-screen) on its Saturday, which could also be a solid comparison (per-screen wise). A Saturday gross of $32 - 35 million should be on the outlook, which should give Shrek 2 a nice chance to crack $90 million for the 3-day weekend (which also depends if its Sunday figure is higher than Friday?s).