Despite the arrival of rocking teens, Tyler Perry enjoyed a back-to-back stint at number one with the hit comedy Madea Goes to Jail which led a sluggish frame despite suffering a sizable sophomore drop. Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience debuted in second place while many holdovers posted small declines remaining popular with moviegoers once again. Overall the North American box office once again beat year-ago levels by a comfortable margin keeping the momentum going for 2009.
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Last weekend’s top film Madea Goes to Jail tumbled 60% in its second weekend grossing an estimated $16.5M which was still good enough for the top spot. The drop was slightly more than the 58% fall that Madea’s Family Reunion (Tyler Perry’s previous best opener) suffered in its sophomore frame during the first weekend of March in 2006. After ten days of release, Jail has amassed a stellar $64.9M and has already become the popular filmmaker’s highest grossing movie ever edging out Reunion‘s $63.3M total gross. Lionsgate could see the final tally reach the neighborhood of $85-90M.
Disney opened its music pic Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience in second place with an estimated $12.7M. Playing in 1,271 3D theaters, the G-rated concert flick averaged a healthy $9,992 and was helped by higher $15 ticket prices that exhibitors were charging. The bow was not even close to the performance of last year’s Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus 3D concert film which opened with $31.1M from 683 locations for a scorching $45,561 average. Though launching in nearly half as many theaters, that film was helped by what was then scheduled as a one-week-only run which generated more excitement plus was based on a more popular brand from the Disney Channel arsenal.
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Following its sweep of the Academy Awards last Sunday, Slumdog Millionaire enjoyed a 45% surge in business thanks to a wave of press attention and an additional 699 playdates. The Fox Searchlight hit grossed an estimated $12.2M putting it into third place, the highest chart position yet across its 16 weekends in theaters. That translated to a $4,128 average from 2,943 locations. Slumdog boosted its cume to a sensational $115.1M from North America alone.
Fox’s sleeper action hit Taken joined the century club over the weekend. The Liam Neeson thriller eased only 12% to an estimated $10M lifting the cume to $107.9M. Date flick He’s Just Not That Into You took in an estimated $5.9M for Warner Bros., down just 31%, with the sum thus far reaching an impressive $78.5M.
Sony’s runaway hit Paul Blart: Mall Cop took in an estimated $5.6M in its seventh weekend slipping a mere 18% and raising the amazing total to $128.1M. The stop-motion animated hit Coraline followed in fourth with an estimated $5.3M, down 54%, for a $61.1M total to date for Focus.
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The videogame-inspired actioner Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li debuted in eighth place with an estimated $4.7M. Fox’s PG-13 release averaged a mild $4,093 from 1,136 locations and played to a young male audience.
Falling 33% was the chick flick Confessions of a Shopoholic with an estimated $4.5M giving Buena Vista $33.7M to date. Rounding out the top ten was the male cheerleader flick Fired Up! which collected an estimated $3.8M, down 31%, for a $10.1M total after ten days in multiplexes.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $81M over the weekend which was up 10% from last year when Semi-Pro opened in the top spot with $15.1M; but down 21% from 2007 when Wild Hogs debuted at number one with a stunning $39.7M.
Author: Gitesh Pandya, BoxOfficeGuru.com
