In a year when movies led by Will Ferrell, Julia Roberts, Russell Crowe, Jack Black and Adam Sandler have all foundered at the box office, Hollywood got a dose of reliable star power this weekend.
Tyler Perry's "I Can Do Bad All by Myself" sold a studio-estimated $24 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, making it the seventh consecutive low-cost movie that the actor-writer-director has opened successfully for Lions Gate Entertainment since early 2006.
Focus Features' quirky animated film "9" got off to a healthy start, meanwhile, while thriller "Whiteout" and horror film "Sorority Row" both opened poorly.
Perry's movies consistently cost less than $20 million to produce, with a significant chunk going to the filmmaker himself. In a highly unreliable industry, they have provided a steady profit stream for the independent studio.
"Tyler Perry is one of the most eminently bankable stars in the business," said Lions Gate Vice Chairman Michael Burns.
Perry's films appeal primarily to black women, an audience group to whom not many movies in Hollywood are specifically targeted. "I Can Do Bad" followed that pattern, with 75% of ticket buyers female and 80% African American, according to exit polls.
After 2006's "Madea's Family Reunion," Perry has made two movies a year for the last three years. He has two more in the works for next year.
There are no signs of audience fatigue with Perry or his filmmaking formula, however. "I Can Do Bad" grossed 38% more than the writer-director's "The Family That Preys" on the same weekend last year. Moviegoers gave it an average grade of A, according to market research firm CinemaScore.
Although "Madea Goes to Jail" and "Madea's Family Reunion" remain his two biggest launches, this weekend's picture is Perry's most successful that didn't feature his popular "Madea" character in the title.
"The really nice thing about is that his franchise still continues to build after all of these films and all of this exposure," Burns said.
"9" marks Focus' second offbeat animated film this year, after February's "Coraline," and it had a solid if not stellar $10.9-million opening weekend. Combined with the $4.4 million that it collected Wednesday and Thursday after opening on 9/9/09 as a marketing ploy, the movie has grossed $15.3 million domestically, along with $2.7 million from Russia, the Ukraine and Estonia.
