Madea may have gone to jail, but Tyler Perry took another trip to the bank. Perry proves that he is as consistent as Pixar or Harry Potter when it comes to churning out the box-office hits with his fourth theatrical film, Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail, debuting at No. 1.
Madea Goes to Jail earned an incredible bail busting $41.1 million. This is Mr. Perry’s biggest opening weekend yet, besting the $30 million debut of 2006’s Madea’s Family Reunion.
Taken might as well just take up permanent residence in the top five, as audiences continue to make this their thriller of choice, giving it another $11.4 million this weekend, and keep nudging it toward the $100 million mark.
As it continues to draw audiences with its creepy and unique cinematic vision as realized by visionary director Henry Selick, Coraline came in third place, adding another $11 million to the till as it crosses the $50 million mark.
In fourth is He’s Just Not That Into You, which continues its march toward the $75 million mark with an $8.5 million night out. It appears that women would rather date this movie and leave their useless boyfriends at home.
Finally and appropriately rounding out the Top 5 is the great Slumdog Millionaire, which on Oscar Sunday finds itself with almost $100 million in domestic box-office. With box-office winnings of $8 million and a weekend over weekend uptick of 11 percet, this film is getting more than a little help from Oscar as it becomes a mainstream blockbuster, a critical darling and most likely the Best Picture of the year.
Oscar Sunday is upon us, which unless you live in a cave somewhere, you already know and thus movie-going will likely drop tonight. No matter since the box-office will be up by 30 percent this weekend and has been ahead of the comparable weekend in 2008 for all but one weekend this year. Another great weekend at the box-office and another better-than-expected opening as Hollywood’s biggest night is ready for its close up.
THREE-DAY STUDIO ESTIMATES
1. NEW! Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail (Lionsgate) – $41.1M; 2032 theaters; $20,236 PTA
2. Taken (Fox) – $11.4M; 3102 theaters; $3,675 PTA; -40%; $95.1 cume
3. Coraline (Focus) – $11M; 2155 theaters; $5,119 PTA; -25%; $53.3M cume
4. He’s Just Not That Into You (Warner Bros.) – $8.5M; 3050 theaters; $2,800 PTA; -56%; $70M cume
5. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) – $8M; 2244 theaters; $3,587 PTA; +11%; $98M cume
6. Friday the 13th (Warner Bros.) – $7.8M; 3105 theaters; $2,520 PTA; -81%; $55M cume
7. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Disney) – $7M; 2507 theaters; $2,800 PTA; -53%; $27.6M cume
8. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony/Columbia) – $7M; 2835 theaters; $2,469 PTA; -36%; $121.3M cume
9. NEW! Fired Up (Sony/Screen Gems) – $6M; 1810 theaters; $3,315 PTA
10. The International (Sony/Columbia) – $4.4M; 2364 theaters; $1,882 PTA; -52%; $17M cume
