Tyler Perry won the weekend popularity contest at the North American box office. His ensemble piece Why Did I Get Married? opened in the top spot with $21.5 million.
Not even Oscar contenders such as the legal thriller Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney, or the historical drama Elizabeth: The Golden Age, starring Cate Blanchett, could topple the mighty Perry. Clayton debuted at No. 3 with $11.1 million, while The Golden Age Age premiered in sixth place with $6.1 million.
Even though Perry’s last effort, Daddy’s Little Girls, failed to snag the top spot when it opened last year, Perry’s record with No. 1 openers is still stellar, following hits Madea’s Family Reunion and Diary of a Mad Black Woman.
“Tyler Perry is a mogul,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers told The Associated Press. “There is a built-in audience base for Tyler Perry‘s movies, no matter what time of year, no matter what the subject matter.”
Other newcomers this week included the crime drama We Own the Night, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg, which opened in fourth place with an even $11 million.
The Top 12 movies took in a total of $85.4 million, down 13.78 percent from last year’s total of $99.1 million but up 25.81 percent from last weekend’s total of $67.9 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year: Sony’s The Grudge 2, which opened at No. 1 with $20.8 million in 3,211 theaters, averaging $6,486 per theater; Warner Bros. The Departed, which dropped to second place in its second week with $19 million in 3,017 theaters, averaging $6,309 per theater; and Universal’s Man of the Year, which opened in third with $12.2 million in 2,515 theaters, averaging $4,890 per theater (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10 ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? (Lionsgate, PG-13)
• Gross: $21.5 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,011
• Per-theater average: $10,691
No. 2: The Game Plan (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $11.5 million (-31%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,128 (+23)
• Per-theater average: $3,678
• Cume to date: $59.4 million
No. 3: Michael Clayton (Warner Bros, R)
• Gross: $11.010 million (+1429%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,511 (+2,496)
• Per-theater average: $4,385
• Cume to date: $12 million
No. 4: We Own the Night (Warner Bros., R)
• Gross: $11 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,362
• Per-theater average: $4,657
No. 5: The Heartbreak Kid (Paramount, R)
• Gross: $7.4 million (-47%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,233 (+4)
• Per-theater average: $2,297
• Cume to date: $26 million
No. 6: Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.1 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,001
• Per-theater average: $3,090
No. 7: The Kingdom (Universal, R)
• Gross: $4.5 million (-53%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,836 (+34)
• Per-theater average: $1,610
• Cume to date: $39.9 million
No. 8: Across the Universe (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $4 million (+106%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 954 (+590)
• Per-theater average: $4,193
• Cume to date: $12.9 million
No. 9: Resident Evil: Extinction (Sony/Screen Gems, R)
• Gross: $2.6 million (-41%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,249 (-599)
• Per-theater average: $1,178
• Cume to date: $48 million
No. 10: The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (Fox, PG)
• Gross: $2.1 million (-43%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,173
• Per-theater average: $678
• Cume to date: $7.1 million
OTHER OPENINGS
The Final Season (Yari Film Group, PG)
• Gross: $665,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,011
• Per-theater average: $658
Lars and the Real Girl (MGM, PG-13)
• Gross: $84,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 7
• Per-theater average: $12,000
Sleuth (Sony Classics, R)
• Gross: $50,090
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 9
• Per-theater average: $5,566
Control (The Weinstein Co., R)
• Gross: $27,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1
• Per-theater average: $27,000
