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"The Incredibles had an incredible weekend to be sure, tallying $70.5 million at the box office, but in the end Shrek got more green.

DreamWorks' Shrek 2 DVD, not so coincidentally released on Friday, the same day bitter rivals Disney and Pixar opened their new superhero 'toon theatrically, generated about $185 million over the weekend in combined DVD and VHS sales, the studio announced Monday.


DreamWorks says in its first three days on shelves, Shrek 2 moved a record 12.1 million combined DVD and video units, 11 million of which were DVDs. "


The sequel, which already owns the record for highest grossing opening weekend in theatres, with $108 million over its first three days last May, surpasses the original Shrek, which previously held the home video mark by selling 7 million copies and generating $110 million in revenue in its first three days in November 2001 (when it was released in stores the same time Disney-Pixar's Monsters, Inc. hit megaplexes).


Predictably, the folks at DreamWorks are acting like Christmas came early. "This record pace is reflective of the movie’s broad appeal--everyone from kids, parents and general audiences are adding Shrek 2 to their DVD library," crowed Kelley Avery, worldwide head of DreamWorks Home Entertainment.


Avery added that "the Shrek 2 marketing campaign now in full swing and an extensive effort [will continue] through the holidays."


The second Shrek feature, which opened on May 18 in theatres, already owns a place in the history books. Not only did the sequel outgross the original, but it is the biggest moneymaker of 2004 with a domestic take of more than $440 million--a mark that ranks it as the highest grossing animated film of all time and the third-highest grossing film of all time. Numbers like that meant the DVD was going to be a sure stocking stuffer.


"DreamWorks should get to the 30 million mark based on box-office receipts alone," says Scott Hettrick, editor of DVD Exclusives.


Disney-Pixar's Finding Nemo, currently has DVD sales in the 22 million-unit range, the current record. But, just as Shrek 2 topped Nemo at the box office, the ogre is likely to stomp out the fish when it comes to DVD sales.


Hettrick attributes the high first week sales in part to savvy consumers. "I defy you to find anyone who wasn't aware that the release date for Shrek 2," he says.


DreamWorks spared no expense to promote the video, taking out billboard and magazine ads that rivaled most theatrical roll-outs. Of course, the studio needed to make a splash since it was going up against the even more heavily hyped release of The Incredibles. Hettrick says such promotion usually pays off as 50-70 percent of sales come in the first week.


And while the DreamWorks swears (wink wink) that Shrek 2's Friday release date didn't try to undermine some of The Incredibles' glory, Hettrick says the move was the latest in long history of one-upsmanship between the studios since Jeffrey Katzenberg left the Mouse House and cofounded DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. "It's just part of back and forth between the two," he says.


Shrek 2's boffo sales come at an opportune time for its home studio, since DreamWorks Animation SKG launched its IPO last week and its stock price has been soaring. And both Shrek 2 and DreamWorks' other 'toon hit of 2004, Shark Tale, have been ruled eligible for the Best Animated Feature Oscar--a race that could once again pit The Incredibles against the not so jolly green giant.


But don't expect Shrek 2 to dominate the record books forever; DreamWorks has already given a green light to Shrek 3, due out in 2006, and Shrek 4.

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yippee..buy Dreamworks stock today.

Part three, here we come.

This saddens me. I really enjoyed the first one, but the follow-up was WEAK. Michael Jackson dancing jokes? Ghostbusters references? Ricky Martin? Footloose? I laughed maybe twice over the course of the entire film. It was stale before it ever hit theaters.

What Shrek 2 proves is the power of marketing. If you blitz the public with enough commercials telling them your film is the "BEST FILM EVER!!!" (based solely on the amount of money it made), they'll give in, even if they didn't like it all that much when they saw it. The fact that they actually convinced people to buy the DVD and make a toll phone call to participate in the contrived "Far Far Away Idol" bit without even the pretense of a sweepstakes is testament to the pure marketing genius of the film's handlers.

Bitter rivals? Heh.

Whatever Boy. Most people I know agree with me that it was superior to the original.

Count me in this group. I didn't find the first one all that funny, but I didn't see it in theaters. Rented the DVD and my kids asked me to buy it. For Shrek 2 we saw it in the theaters and I enjoyed it more. To each his/her own.

What I think is amazing is...look at how much was spent on family entertainment in one weekend!! I'd bet many families saw the Incredibles over the weekend AND bought the Shrek 2 DVD. Big market in pleasing the kiddies I guess.

And the article says in DVD and VHS sales. VHS SALES? Really? they still make those?

Count me in to.

I disagree. It just proves that people have different tastes, and it just happens that yours is against the rest of the mass public. And no, you didn't have to make a toll call to vote. You don't make 400 million dollars at the box office soley because of marketing.

The sequel, which already owns the record for highest grossing opening weekend in theatres, with $108 million over its first three days last May

doesn't spiderman 1 own that record?

I found Shrek 2 a lot more funnier than the first one. Guess the its because the jokes were a bit more mature.

IMO... Shrek 2 was soooo much better than the Orig.. I really hated the first one, so not funny... The 2nd was better, and I am glad to see it break records, and hope it wins an oscar

Does anyone know of good sites to get video sales data? There is box office data everywhere, but I'm not sure about video sales.

How were the jokes more mature? There were more pop culture references to be sure, but most of them were extremely dated (or soon will be). I'm just asking, because I feel like I saw a completely different movie than the rest of you.

Easiest example that springs to mind is the woman's underwear/thong.

As far as pop culture references, i actually disagree that they'll become dated as quickly as people say. Most of the references i can picture being still relevent years down the line.

I was at the grocery store last week and the guy in front of me in line saw the empty holder advertising the Shrek 2 DVD and he asked "Is that out yet?"

HA! I DEFY YOU, HETTRICK!

And Spider-Man does have #1 opening weekend.

I've been wondering that myself for awhile. I have yet to find any website that details a comprehensive list of units sold, and the only news we ever hear are press releases from studios tooting their own horn over sales numbers.

I hate everything Shrek. I watched the first one and barely enjoyed it. I have not watched the 2nd one and I don't think I will.

I find the way they try to undermine Disney to be juvenile and I despise them for it. I have always been a huge Disney fan so that has gotten me to hate Shrek. I own over 1100 DVDs but I will never own a Shrek DVD.

They release the DVD on the same day that The Incredibles opens up!! Are you kidding me!!! Someone has an axe to grind. I cannot believe their tactics.

I didn't even think that movie was that good.

Well apparently Dreamworks is doing something right with the Friday releases since they did the same thing with Shrek when Monsters Inc. opened and now they have the #1 and #2 sales records. Maybe it's just good marketing, huh?

I think the most suprising part of the article was where Dreamworks said it sold '12.1 million combined DVD and video units, 11 milliom of which were DVDs.'

So there are 2.1 million people buying the VHS version still? What's up with that?

Are you kidding me? You are a huge fan of the most evil empire in all of Hollywood and you hate Dreamworks for poking fun of them??!!!

You think that's bad? 21 years after CDs were released to the U.S. market, you can still go into a Tower Records and purchase pre-recorded cassette tapes.

Only 1.1 million people are still buying VHS, at least in this case. Though I would guess a good portion of those sales came from videos stores.

1.1 million. Try math.

While I liked the sequel just fine, I'm actually in the minority on this one, in thinking the first was better.

K

Agreed. This really soured my opinion of Dreamworks. If they keep up this trend they will annoy me more than Miramax's continued attempts to buy the Best Picture Oscar.

I will always like Pixar's films better because they are more timeless. As long as Dreamworks continues to mire their films with excessive pop culture references they will fail to win me over the way Pixar has.

That said, I still enjoy Dreamworks animated films for what they are and don't understand why they feel they can't coexist with Pixar...