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American Morning
Summer Movies Hitting the Stage
Aired May 21, 2001 - 10:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, a green ogre that won't make you shriek is a hit at the box office.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: For more on "Shrek," let's go to CNN's Michael Okwu in New York with our SHOW BIZ REPORTS -- hello, Michael.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys.
A mummy, a knight and an animated ogre faced off at the box office this weekend and when it was all over, the ogre was a giant that made plenty of money.
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UNIDENTIFIED CHARACTER: You're not exactly what I expected.
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OKWU (voice-over): "Shrek" took a giant step out in front of the competition in its debut. The animated adventure vaulted to number one with an estimated 42.1 million bucks. Featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, "Shrek" now ranks second right behind 1999's "Toy Story II" on the list of biggest animated openings ever.
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UNIDENTIFIED CHARACTER: This is bad, Edie.
UNIDENTIFIED CHARACTER: We've had bad before.
UNIDENTIFIED CHARACTER: This is worse.
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OKWU: Box office returns for "The Mummy Returns" unraveled a bit. The film slipped to second place with an estimated $20.5 million this weekend after two weeks in the top spot.
The rock and roll fairy tale "A Knight's Tale" rocked movie houses to the tune of 10.7 million bucks in its second week out. The Medieval adventure starring Heath Ledger landed in third place.
Jennifer Lopez's "Angel Eyes" opened at number four. The thriller with Lopez in the lead as a cop earned an estimated $9.5 million.
And "Bridget Jones's Diary" stayed locked up in the top five. The romantic comedy, starring Renee Zellweger and Hugh Grant, collected another $3.8 million this weekend.
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OKWU: Now "Shrek" swept the box office with a cast of characters which included some very famous voices. CNN's Lauren Hunter talked with the stars who helped bring "Shrek" to life.
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LAUREN HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess held captive by a fire breathing dragon.
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UNIDENTIFIED CHARACTER: Are you Princess Fiona?
SHREK: I am. Awaiting a knight so bold as to rescue me.
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HUNTER: Her prince charming was a big green ornery ogre named Shrek and his sidekick, Donkey.
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PRINCES FIONA: You didn't slay the dragon?
SHREK: It's on my to do list.
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HUNTER: The villain is the very short and very evil Lord Farquaad, out to rid his kingdom of fairy tale characters.
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LORD FARQUAAD: Now tell me, where are the others? Tell me or I'll...
UNIDENTIFIED CHARACTER: No, not the buttons. Not my gumdrop buttons.
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HUNTER: It's an untraditional love story in a land far, far away, where nothing and no one is quite as they seem.
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DONKEY: Before this is over, I'm going to need a whole lot of serious therapy.
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HUNTER: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow are the voices behind "Shrek."
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UNIDENTIFIED CHARACTER: Shrek.
DONKEY: Shrek.
UNIDENTIFIED CHARACTER: Thank you very much. I'm here till Thursday.
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MIKE MYERS, "SHREK": When I watched the movie when it was all completed and stuff, I forgot that I ever worked on it and I laughed and I was like oh, watch out. I was like, you know, little kids when they go to pantomime, look out behind you. There's a bad guy. I got totally into it and at the end I, like, cried. And I was just like, I'm not crying. I've got something in my eye. I completely forgot it was me and I just thoroughly enjoyed it.
HUNTER: So did the crowds at the Cannes Film Festival. "Shrek" is the first animated film in 28 years to compete for the festival's main prize, the Palm d'Or. The cast says the technology is terrific, but it's the story that's timeless.
EDDIE MURPHY, "DONKEY": And acceptance in who you are and loving yourself for who you are, that's what I like about it.
CAMERON DIAZ, "PRINCESS FIONA": What you look like doesn't matter and that who you are is what's important and that you find the same in other, everyone else -- that all people are created equal.
JOHN LITHGOW, "LORD FARQUAAD": Every fairy tale should have a moral. Its moral is a perfectly obvious one -- be happy with who you are. But it's a very touching one.
HUNTER: And one likely to entertain kids of all ages.
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DONKEY: You love this woman, don't you?
SHREK: Yes.
DONKEY: You want to hold her?
SHREK: Yes.
DONKEY: Please her?
SHREK: Yes.
DONKEY: Then you've got to, got to try a little tenderness.
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HUNTER: Lauren Hunter, CNN Entertainment News, Hollywood.
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OKWU: "Shrek" just kicked off a season of big summer flicks, one of which is expected to be "Pearl Harbor." One of its stars, Ben Affleck, tells CNN why he thinks it's an important film.
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BEN AFFLECK, "PEARL HARBOR" STAR: I think it's important to know how terrible a thing war is and how much suffering is involved and how gruesome the Second World War was and how real the sacrifices were that were made by that generation and that we ought to never have to fight a war like that ever again.
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OKWU: You can see that Ben Affleck interview in our next SHOWBIZ TODAY report this morning at 11:35 Eastern. Be sure to check that out.
Reporting from New York, I'm Michael Okwu, CNN LIVE THIS MORNING continues right after this.
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