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movie news
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Mon. 10 15. 2007 10:39 AM EDT
Tyler Perry Dethrones 'The Game Plan' At Box Office
'Why Did I Get Married?' could set a question-mark movie record.
by
Shawn Adler
Sharon Leal, Janet Jackson and Tasha Smith in "Why Did I Get Married?"
(
Lions Gate Films
)
The Box-Office Top Five
#1 "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?" ($21.5 million)
#2 "The Game Plan" ($11.5 million)
#3 "Michael Clayton" ($11 million)
#4 "We Own the Night" ($11 million)
#5 "The
Heartbreak Kid" ($7.4 million)
Ad men will tell ya: Brand loyalty goes a long way. This weekend, that loyalty took a small, under-the-radar film and brought it all the way.
Media mogul Tyler Perry once again put his name on the top of a marquee, and as a result, his newest film, "Why Did I Get Married?," landed at the top of the box-office heap, scoring $21.5 million in its first week. An adaptation of Perry's play of the same name, "Why Did I Get Married?" is the latest in a string of successes for the Atlanta based writer/director, following "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," and "Madea's Family Reunion."
Incidentally, (for all you hard-core box-office enthusiasts out there) "Why Did I Get Married?" has a real chance to break an all-time record. It has long been considered bad luck to include a question mark in film or television titles, which is why movies like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" leave it off altogether (and suffer the wrath of grammar nerds like myself). With $21.5 million, Perry's film has a good shot at catching "What About Bob?," which made $63 way back in 1991. No movie that ends in a question mark has ever made $100 million domestically.
That is something they have in common with every Farrelly brothers movie of the last decade (oh snap!). It was continued heartbreak at the box office for "The Heartbreak Kid," perhaps the highest-profile comedy of the fall season. In its second weekend the Ben Stiller vehicle was good for fifth place and only $7.4 million. Its new total stands at a disappointing $26 million.
Give or take a few million, that's roughly how much "Michael Clayton" and "We Own the Night" made combined, in a race for third place that was too close to call on Sunday. Both films are Oscar hopefuls, both have high-profile stars as leads (George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg, respectfully), and both films are projected in the $11 million range.
After two weeks at #1, Disney's "The Game Plan," meanwhile, fell to second with $11.5 million. Don't fret: The Rock can roll with the punches. The third-week receipts bring the family comedy's total to a very healthy $60 million.
The other big new release of the weekend, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" scored $6.1 million, good enough for a sixth-place finish. While it's tempting to say that the film is something of a disappointment, it has already made more in three days than "Elizabeth" made in its first four weeks. Released in 1998, that film rode a crest of good reviews and Oscar nominations to play for 26 weeks. It remains to be seen if "The Golden Age" will follow suit.
In limited release, "Lars and the Real Girl," starring Ryan Gosling, made $85,000 from seven theaters, while "Sleuth" took home $50,100 from nine.
Next Week
What's scarier: vampires, U.S. foreign policy or another spoof movie? We'll find out next week when audiences are treated to "30 Days of Night," a creature feature starring Josh Hartnett; "Rendition," starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon; and "The Comebacks," starring Carl Weathers. Next week also brings two movies that prey on a parent's worst fear — losing a child, one through abduction ("Gone Baby Gone") and one through death ("Reservation Road").
This report is from MTV News.
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