Tyler Perry and his Bad Marriage Takes Box Office

I’ve been told that Tyler Perry, the black comedian/actor/director who likes to dress up in drags, has a major following, but damn, I had no idea it was this major. Perry’s latest, the drama/comedy “Why Did I Get Married?”, took the box office in its debut week with an impressive $21 million haul, more than good enough to knock The Rock’s “The Game Plan”, which had been reigning for the last two weeks, down to second place in its third week of release. Meanwhile, other new releases “We Own the Night” came in fourth place with $11 million, behind George Clooney’s “Michael Clayton”, which landed in the three spot with about $10,000 more in ticket sales than “Night” — just barely. The prestige sequel “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” came in sixth place with $6 million.

The disappointment of the week has to be “We Own the Night”, which opened with a huge PR campaign, not to mention the film’s major stars — Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix as brothers on opposing side of a crime war and Eva Mendes as the girl who loves one of them. And to come in fourth place to a movie about unhappily married people? Ouch.

Here’s how the box office broke down over the weekend:

1 —– Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? Lionsgate $21,500,000
2 —– The Game Plan —– Buena Vista Pictures Distribution —– $11,506,000
3 —– Michael Clayton —– Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution —– $11,010,000
4 —– We Own the Night —– Sony Pictures Releasing —– $11,000,000
5 —– The Heartbreak Kid —– Paramount Pictures —– $7,425,000
6 —– Elizabeth: The Golden Age —– Universal Pictures Distribution —– $6,183,000
7 —– The Kingdom —– Universal Pictures Distribution —– $4,566,000
8 —– Across the Universe —– Sony Pictures Releasing —– $4,000,000
9 —– Resident Evil: Extinction —– Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Releasing —– $2,650,000
10 —– The Seeker —– Unnamed Fox-Walden Joint Venture —– $2,150,000

Not owning the box office

(via)