Following the poor Memorial Day performance by the box office, some analysts are expressing concern that the summer could turn out to be a loser for the studios. Today's Hollywood Reporter suggested that the box office could be "plagued by a nasty case of sequelitis" and quoted an unnamed top studio executive as saying, "There very well could be some burnout with moviegoers, who are looking for something new and fresh." The huge fall-off in ticket sales for Sex And The City in particular generated worries about prospects for numerous other sequels scheduled for release this summer. According to box-office tracker Rentrak, the summer box office, which began in early May, is off 21 percent from a year ago.

The top ten films over the Memorial Day weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date); figures marked with an asterisk (*) indicate four-day results 1. Shrek Forever After , Paramount/Dreamworks Animation, $43,311,063, $57,060,434*, 2 Wks. ($146,810,785); 2. Prince of Persia The Sands of Time , Disney, $30,095,259, $37,813,075*, (New); 3. Sex and The City 2 , Warner Bros., $31,001,870, $37,813,075*, ($51,043,450 -- from Thursday); 4. Iron Man 2 , Paramount, $16,458,990, $21,076,239*, 4 Wks. ($279,076,239); 5. Robin Hood, Universal, $10,405,705, $13,424,540*, 3 Wks. ($86,144,405); 6. Letters to Juliet , Summit, $5,833,772, $7,492,524*, 3 Wks. ($38,195,942); 7. Just Wright, Fox Searchlight, $2,156,578, $2,835,702*, 3 Wks. ($18,833,220); 8. Date Night, 20th Century Fox, $1,817,755, $2,307,657*, 8 Wks. ($94,005,365); 9. Macgruber, Universal, $1,565,985, $2,024,110*, 2 Wks. ($7,674,445); 10. How to Train Your Dragon , Paramount/DreamWorks Animation, $1,150,834, $1,513,677*, 10 Wks. ($213,117,896

02/06/2010