So, was it a Memorial Day worth remembering for Sex and the City 2 and Jake Gyllenhaal's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time?
It was for one of the box-office contenders.
Prince of Persia leapfrogged Sex in the four-day, holiday-weekend standings, $37.8 million to $37.1 million, per estimates released today. The Gyllenhaal adventure had finished behind the Sarah Jessica Parker-and-friends franchise on Sunday.
One thing didn't change with today's updated numbers: Shrek Forever After. It routed both newcomers, grossing $55.6 million Friday-Monday.
Sex and the City 2's third-place finish was a final blow the film, which had been widely predicted to reign over the Memorial Day weekend,
Granted, Sex did great for an R-rated romantic comedy that was called "bad" and any other number of disparaging things by critics. But it failed to build on, or even come close to, its blockbuster 2008 predessor, which, oh, by the way, cost $65 million compared to the new one's reputed $95 million price tag.
"With any sequel you want to see an increase in the number of fans," BoxOffice.com editor Phil Contrino said Sunday, "and this obviously didn't happen here…It flatlined."
As for the $200 million Prince of Persia, its three-day and four-day takes were about what was expected (or, OK, maybe worse) considering its buzz, or lack thereof.
But the video-game-spawned flick did (much) better overseas, reigning in most of the world as the weekend's No. 1 movie, and bringing its overall worldwide total to $133.3 million. "Not a bad start," Contrino said Sunday.
Elsewhere:
•; Since its own arguably underwhelming debut last weekend, the final Shrek has grossed $145.4 million domestically.
• In its fourth weekend, Iron Man 2 ($16 million Friday-Sunday; $20.3 million Friday-Monday) passed the $275 million mark domestically.
• MacGruber watch: It averaged $610 at each of its 2,546 theaters through Monday.
• Johnny Depp's Alice in Wonderland tacked on another $673,000 here to a global total that this past week surpassed $1 billion, not to mention The Dark Knight, to become the world's fifth-biggest-grossing movie of all-time.
Here's an updated rundown of the holiday weekend's top-grossing films, per Friday-Monday estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
- Shrek Forever After, $55.6 million
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, $37.8 million
- Sex and the City 2, $37.1 million
- Iron Man 2, $20.3 million
- Robin Hood, $13.6 million
- Letters to Juliet, $7.3 million
- Just Wright, $2.7 million
- Date Night, $2.3 million
- MacGruber, $1.9 million
- How to Train Your Dragon, $1.4 million
(Originally published May 30, 2010, at 11:19 a.m. PT)
Follow @eonline on Twitter!
________
No matter what went down at the box office, this will always be hot: Top 9 Carrie Bradshaw Hookups on Sex and the City