“Shrek” may be biggest winner

Some analysts suggested that even more remarkable than the performance of Pearl Harbor was the second-week showing of DreamWorks’ Shrek, which took in an estimated $54.2 million — and may even have filled about the same number of seats as Pearl, given the sizable number of half-price kids’ tickets that it undoubtedly sold. The film has now grossed $110.7 million in just two weeks and seems certain to pass the $200-million mark domestically. Entertainment analyst Art Rockwell told Bloomberg News that the results for the computer-animated movie were “the biggest surprise hit of the weekend. … Considering what it was up against, it’s very impressive.” DreamWorks distribution chief Jim Tharp called the tally “pretty phenomenal.” Analysts pointed out that the film actually earned slightly more during the Friday-Sunday period in its second week than it did during the same period a week earlier when it opened — and was up 29 percent for the four-day period. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Bruce Olson, president of Milwaukee-based Marcus Theaters said that such a week-to-week rise is “extremely rare.”