"Shrek Forever Ever" Opens at Number 1

Shrek Forever Ever, the fourth of the series opened this past weekend. The movie debuted at number 1, but fell short of expectations. The film earned $71.3 million during its opening weekend, but was predicted to hit $100 million, according to industry predictions.

Anne Globe, the head of worldwide marketing for DreamWorks Animation, said, "We're obviously happy to be the No. 1 movie, which we anticipated. It's a little lower than we anticipated but it's still No. 4 among all animated openings of all time."

Comparing this film with the past Shrek films, Shrek the Third opened to $121.6 million in 2007, Shrek 2 earned $108 million in 2004, and Shrek started with $42 million back in 2001. According to Reuters, this will be the final film in the franchise. Shrek Forever After may not have performed as well as predicted, but broke records by being the fourth film in an animated series.

IMAX screenings were raised to $20 this past week by mistake, and the box office is wondering if this affected the film in any way. Tickets were changed to $17-$19, and customers received refunds.