New films don’t topple ‘Shrek’

LOS ANGELES — DreamWorks Animation’s “Shrek Forever After” remained the No. 1 movie for a third-straight weekend with $25.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. It raised its three-week domestic total to $183 million.

The overall box office tumbled, coming in at $125 million, down 24 percent compared with the same weekend last year, when “The Hangover” opened with $45 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

The best of the newcomers was Universal’s rock ‘n’ roll comedy “Get Him to the Greek,” which debuted at No. 2 with $17.4 million. The movie stars Jonah Hill as a record executive escorting an unruly rocker (Russell Brand) from London to Los Angeles for a concert.

Opening at No. 3 with $16.1 million was Lionsgate’s action comedy “Killers,” starring Katherine Heigl as a woman who marries her dream man (Ashton Kutcher) only to learn he’s an international assassin.

The weekend’s two other new releases had anemic openings — 20th Century Fox’s family comedy “Marmaduke” at $11.3 million and the Warner Bros. horror tale “Splice” at $7.5 million.

“Prince of Persia” was No. 4 with $13.9 million, down 54 percent from opening weekend and raising its domestic total to $59.5 million. “Sex and the City 2” finished at No. 5 with $12.7 million, down 59 percent and lifting its haul to $73.4 million.

Friday brings a 1980s flashback with a remake of “The Karate Kid” starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, the son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, and a big-screen adaptation of the TV action series “The A-Team,” featuring Liam Neeson, Jessica Biel and “The Hangover” co-star Bradley Cooper.

Still to come are “Toy Story 3,” reuniting voice stars Tom Hanks and Tim Allen; Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz’s action comedy “Knight and Day”; “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” the third installment in the vampire-romance franchise; and Leonardo DiCaprio’s science-fiction thriller “Inception,” from “The Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan.