Tyler Perry
once again proved he is a forced to be reckoned with as his latest film
Why
Did I Get Married? easily took the number one spot at the box office
this weekend, nearly doubling the nearest competitor. The other debuting films
met with so-so results and there’s a tight race for the runner-up spot.
The filmgoing audience showed once again that if Tyler Perry headlines a film,
they’re going to come out to see it.
Why
Did I Get Married? brought in an estimated $21.5M this weekend for
a powerful per screen average of $10,691. The opening was on par with Perry’s
first smash, 2005’s
Diary of a
Mad Black Woman which opened with $21.9M and an even stronger $14,771
average. Unlike the last film with Perry’s name attached,
Daddy’s Little
Girls, which opened with a softer $11.2M, Why Did I Get Married?
features Perry in a starring role. Throw in the popular
Janet Jackson
as a co-star and you’ve got a formula for success.
Dropping one spot was two-time box office champ
The Rock
in The Game Plan
which fell only 30% this weekend to an estimated $11.5M. The 30% drop was easily
the best hold in the top 10 this week, and its cume now stands at $59.4M. With
the recent success of comedies featuring tough guys and cute kids, it seems only
a matter of time before there’s a sequel to
Mr. Nanny.
Battling The Rock for second place were two films that were within $10,000 of
each other this weekend. Currently sitting in third is the
George Clooney
starrer Michael
Clayton. Expanding nationally from its successful debut last weekend,
the Warner Bros. award hopeful took in an estimated $11M this weekend, for a
solid per screen average of $4,385, bringing its cume to $12.1M. Following
closely on its heels was the
Joaquin
Phoenix/Mark
Wahlberg thriller
We Own the Night
which also debuted to an estimated $11M, for a per screen average of $4,179.
When the actual numbers come in on Monday, the 2nd through 4th films could
easily move around.
Falling 47% from its less-than-powerful opening last weekend was the
Ben Stiller
R-rated comedy
The Heartbreak Kid which laughed up an estimated $7.4M this weekend,
bringing its total to a disappointing $26M. Look for a final theatrical run in
the $45-50M range, which is reasonable for a lot of films, but not for a Ben
Stiller/Farrelly
Brothers comedy.
Opening in sixth place this weekend was the historical sequel
Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
Bringing back star
Cate Blanchett
and director
Shekhar Kapur nine years after the success of the original
Elizabeth
didn’t mean much for audiences as the film brought in an estimated $6.2M this
weekend for a per screen average of $3,169. A run on early season awards could
help the overall gross of the film, otherwise it may fade away quickly.
In seventh was the war drama
The Kingdom which
fell 53% from last weekend to an estimated $4.5M. Its total now stands at a
shade under $40M. Adding a few hundred screens this weekend and crashing into
the top 10 was
Across the
Universe which features the songs of the Beatles. The film took in $4M
in its fourth weekend, according to estimates, bringing its total to $12.9M.
In ninth place this weekend was
Resident
Evil: Extinction which took in $2.6M in its fourth lap around the
country, bringing its total to $48M. And rounding out the top 10 was
The Seeker:
The Dark is Rising which fell 42% from its soft opening last weekend to
an estimated $2.1M. Its cume stands at $7M and it should end up in the $12-14M
range with some hope for success on DVD. The only other film debuting this
weekend was the high school baseball pic
The Final Season
which opened to an estimated $665K for a per screen average of a pitiful $658.
Look for the film to quickly appear in DVD bargain bins.
The top 10 grossed $81.4M this weekend, which was down 15% from 2006 when
The Grudge 2 opened
with $20.8M, but up 23% from 2005 when another horror film,
The Fog, bowed on top
with $11.7M.
Author: Sujit Chawla, www.boxofficeguru.com
