The film may have opened with 58% of the third film's $121 million opening weekend grosses, but Shrek: The Final Chapter is proving to be more resilient than many, including myself, predicted.
Why are they making another sequel to two films which, future studies will show, can cause brain damage to anyone who watches them? Because adults don't matter to Hollywood.
By any normal standards, a movie opening with $71.2 million in three days would be a pretty big success. But unless overseas numbers explode, Shrek: The Final Chapter will live up to its name.