"Shrek" Tops $200 Million

Wed., Jun. 20, 2001 5:15 PM PDT by Chuck Kim

Shrek is now DreamWorks' jolly green cash giant, er, ogre.

The computer-generated 'toon has officially become the first blockbuster of 2001, hitting the coveted $200 million domestic gross mark Tuesday, according to the studio. And the Disney-skewering fractured fairy tale--which features the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow--shows no signs of slowing.

"Shrek is on track to be if not the biggest grossing movie of the summer, in the top two," says Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. "The performance of this movie is amazing by any standard. It has a shot of getting up to the $250 [million] mark."

Since its release on May 18, Shrek has consistently drawn viewers of all ages while outearning the likes of Disney's Pearl Harbor and Universal's The Mummy Returns. It has also been playing in a record number of movie houses, which undoubtedly has affected its boffo showing.

Only three other animated features--all from bitter rival Disney--rank ahead of Shrek: The Lion King ($313 million), Toy Story 2 ($246 million) and Aladdin ($217 million). Trailing by only $17 million, Shrek could uncork Aladdin's box-office total by summer's end.

And while the chances of Shrek passing the other Disney titles, however, is very slim, the DreamWorks flick will probably paste Disney's current cartoon offering, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, which is on track to gross less than $100 million domestically.

"Crossing $200 million this early out puts Shrek in the kind of rarified atmosphere that would be a fairy tale come true for any studio," crows studio distribution chief Jim Tharp.

"We are thrilled that moviegoers are not only continuing to discover the magic of Shrek for the first time, but are going back again and again--and taking friends. The resulting word of mouth has been a big part of the box-office success and should continue to carry it throughout the summer."

Shrek's $200 million take makes it only the second DreamWorks feature to cross that threshhold, following 1998's Saving Private Ryan, which took in $216 million. Needless to say, the studio has already announced it's working on a Shrek sequel.

But despite its smashing success, Shrek is still facing some stiff competition in the seasonal box-office wars.

"The summer isn't even half over yet," says Dergarabedian. "There are a lot of big movies to come--Jurassic Park III, A.I., Planet of the Apes, Rush Hour 2. All the studios have potential blockbusters, I wouldn't count anyone out.

"Still," he adds, perhaps not wanting to irk the ogre, "Shrek is going to be really tough to beat."