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Let it never be said that Paramount emperor Brad Grey is not a beneficent ruler: To celebrate the success of partner DreamWorks Animation's Shrek the Third, he's setting his subjects free a day early for the Memorial Day weekend, an act of generosity that should remind everyone on the Melrose lot that the Paramount Pictures logo can be found somewhere on the one-sheet of the latest. record-breaking installment of the previously established DW mega-franchise. Grey's e-mail to the company follows, which stops just short of promising all of his underlings an all-expenses-paid week in Cancun should the opening weekend performance of upcoming co-production Transformers bring still more glory to the Paramount name:

From: [redacted] - Paramount Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 4:54 PM To: NotesMail_All Subject: Message from Brad Grey - Congratulations!!

Congratulations to everyone at DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures on the spectacular opening for SHREK THE THIRD this weekend.

With a 3-day box office gross of $122M, everyone's hard work clearly paid off and together we reached several noteworthy milestones:

* The third highest opening weekend in box office history * The highest opening weekend of all time for an animated film * Paramount's biggest opening weekend ever

Again, congratulations to Jeffrey and all of our friends and partners at DreamWorks Animation. SHREK THE THIRD is a triumph for everyone at DWA and Paramount Pictures around the world.

To celebrate, we'd like you to kick off the Memorial Day Weekend a little early - so take Friday off, compliments of the big green Ogre.

Enjoy the long weekend,

Brad