‘Shrek’ off to roaring start at box office

It was a monster weekend for “Shrek the Third” as Hollywood’s latest high-profile sequel grossed an estimated $122 million in the U.S. and Canada -- the best ever for a feature ‘toon.

Even before Memorial Day gets here, summer blockbusters are winning the hearts, minds and dollars of moviegoers. Just as important, studios are winning the high-stakes expectations game at the box office.

“Shrek” not only beat the cautious public targets set last week by DreamWorks Animation SKG and distributor Paramount Pictures. It also trumped the forecasts of bullish analysts.

“We could not have asked for a better opening,” said Anne Globe, head of marketing at Glendale-based DreamWorks Animation.

The thriving “three-quel” comes two weeks after “Spider-Man 3” exceeded even the “deepest, darkest, most secret desires” of Sony Pictures’ studio chief with its record $151-million opening weekend.

Industry revenue for the summer campaign is running ahead of 2004’s record pace, according to box-office tracker Nielsen EDI, thanks largely to the franchise titles.

Now that two of the three big May three-quels have lived up to their hype -- commercially, if not with those pesky film critics -- the pressure is on Walt Disney Co. Arrrrr more box-office records around the corner?

Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” opens with a wave of “preview” screenings Thursday night, followed by midnight shows early Friday. In recent years, pirates and Spidey have been dueling for supremacy in the record books.

Capt. Jack Sparrow’s second voyage, last summer’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” swiped the opening-weekend record from the original “Spider-Man.”

Then earlier this month, Peter Parker and his alter ego reclaimed the crown.

If, after storming into more than 4,000 theaters, the new “Pirates” plunders anything less than a Memorial Day weekend record, the mouse house may be coping with the dreaded D-word: “disappointing.”

Records aside, box-office grosses are now graded against analysts’ expectations, like corporate earnings on Wall Street -- often to the chagrin of studios and producers.

That helps explain why DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg was busy last week at the Cannes Film Festival not only stirring up buzz for the studio’s next flick, “Bee Movie,” but also talking down expectations for his PG-rated fairy tale “Shrek the Third.”

“I hope we have a very, very good weekend,” Katzenberg told reporters, “but I don’t expect us to set any records.”

Now the question is whether, in the face of wicked competition, “Shrek the Third” can spark repeat business like its beloved predecessors.

2004’s “Shrek 2” holds the industry record for the best second weekend, and it ultimately grossed $921 million worldwide -- tops in the animated genre. “Shrek the Third” has gotten mixed reviews, and movie fans on the IMDb website have rated it slightly below the first two in the series.

DreamWorks’ Globe said it was too early to tell how “Shrek the Third” would be affected by the “unprecedented competition in the marketplace” looming in the form of “Pirates.”

Regardless, the big green ogre got off to a roaring start overseas. “Shrek the Third” grossed a total of $13.3 million in Russia, Ukraine, Romania and the Philippines, opening No. 1 in all four territories.

Unlike Sony, which launched “Spider-Man 3” in 107 countries at once, and Disney, which is plotting a similar attack this weekend, DreamWorks Animation and Paramount are taking a slower approach outside the U.S.

They will roll out “Shrek the Third” over the next two months based on holiday schedules in each country, trying to maximize family business.

Sweet: Fox Searchlight, which unexpectedly hit pay dirt with last summer’s “Little Miss Sunshine,” has two sleeper candidates this summer. The comedy “Waitress” served its way into the top 10 at the box office, while the musical romance “Once” wooed art-house fans in Los Angeles and New York, averaging $30,000 at two theaters.

Ex factor: Baldwin and Basinger are battling again. No, not in court this time -- at the box office. “Even Money,” a gambling drama with Kim Basinger, and “Brooklyn Rules,” a nostalgic tale featuring her ex-husband, Alec Baldwin, opened Friday at a handful of U.S. theaters. Who’s winning? The jury is out: “Even Money” grossed about $26,000, but no estimate was available for “Brooklyn Rules.”

josh.friedman@latimes.com