‘Pearl Harbor’ Opens Big; ‘Shrek’ Keeps on Growing

Despite unofficial estimates that place “Pearl Harbor” among the top-grossing premieres of all time, Disney declined to provide a more precise estimate for the first three days of box office results. With $39.5 million in its first two days, the World War II epic should end up with somewhere between $57 million and $60 million for the three days--about the same as or slightly more than “Mission: Impossible 2” did in its first three days of the holiday weekend last year, but behind the $68.1 million grossed by “The Mummy Returns” just three weeks ago.

For the four-day weekend, “Pearl Harbor” will probably take in about $70 million. The standing record is “The Lost World,” which took in $72.1 million in its initial three days over the 1997 Memorial Day weekend and $92.7 million for the entire holiday.

Nonetheless, “Pearl Harbor” would still place among the three or four highest-grossing premieres of all time and would be the only non-sequel to achieve that lofty status. Its main drawback is its three-hour running time, which restricts the film to only one evening screening.

DreamWorks’ computer-animated “Shrek” is on its way to an impressive holiday weekend, having already outgrossed its first weekend. With an unofficial estimate of $43 million in its first days of the holiday, “Shrek” is on the cusp of the $100-million mark after only 10 days in release.

The only other significant grossing movie for the weekend is “The Mummy Returns,” which is likely to tally just under $15 million for the first three days of the holiday, taking its total to more than $166 million to date, better than its predecessor.