Antonio Banderas stars in "Puss In Boots" (Dreamworks)

The movie proved that the fiesty “Shrek” character, voiced by Antonio Banderas, was popular enough to become his own star.

The movie's success was needed for DreamWorks. 

The company stated on Tuesday that their net income fell by half in the third quarter of its other release this past summer, “Kung Fu Panda 2.”

“Puss in Boots,” however, received radiating reviews from audiences, 35 percent of which were hispanic. 

The winter storm that slammed the east coast took several million from the film, but media analyst at Bloomberg Industries Paul T. Sweeney still has high hopes for the film. 

"What we've seen with DreamWorks' titles is that they tend to have a pretty long life in the theater.  I would expect “Puss in Boots” to play well in the theaters for certainly several weeks," he said during a phone interview. 

“Paranormal Activity 3” was second at the box office this weekend with $18.5 million. “In Time,” “Footloose” and “The Rum Diary” rounded out the top five. 

Reach writer Paige Garrett here pagarret@usc.edu