DreamWorks' 'Shrek' Is Box Office Green LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 21 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- DreamWorks Pictures' computer animated comedy "Shrek" enjoyed a "once upon a time" weekend at the box office, with an estimated gross of $42.3 million -- the largest of any DreamWorks release to date -- it was announced today by DreamWorks head of distribution Jim Tharp. The weekend box office total also marks the biggest opening ever for an animated feature on a non-holiday weekend, and the largest of any non-sequel animated film ever. ( Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990714/LAW056 ) In making the announcement, Jim Tharp said, "'Shrek' first made believers of the critics and now audiences. We knew the film was something special, but it is so gratifying that people across the country -- young and old, married and single, and every other demographic -- have fallen in love with this unlikely hero. For everyone at DreamWorks and PDI, this is quite honestly a fairy tale come true." Opening in New York and Los Angeles on May 16 and nationwide on May 18, "Shrek" stars the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow. Based on the children's book by William Steig, "Shrek" was directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson from a screenplay by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Joe Stillman and Roger S.H. Schulman. Aron Warner, John H. Williams and Jeffrey Katzenberg produced the film, with Penney Finkelman Cox and Sandra Rabins serving as executive producers. The co-executive producer is David Lipman, and Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio are the co-producers. DreamWorks SKG was formed in October, 1994, by its three principal partners -- Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen -- to produce live-action motion pictures; animated feature films; network, syndicated and cable television programming; home video entertainment; records; books; toys; and consumer products. SOURCE: DreamWorks Pictures CONTACT: Vivian Mayer of DreamWorks Pictures, 818-695-6674 Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990714/LAW056 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 201-369-3467