Friday Box Office: Tyler Perry’s Married headed for $25M ; Clayton & We Own the Night battle for 3rd
Tyler Perry has returned to the top of the box office and, on a very competitive weekend, he’s won in very easy fashion. Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? (Lionsgate) has rocked Hollywood with an $8.65M Friday, and it’s headed for an outstanding $25.3M 3-day opening.
The 38-year-old actor/writer/director established himself as an auteur and a box office sensation back in 1995 with Diary of a Mad Black Woman, which opened with a $21.9M weekend and went on to generate $50.6M domestic. Then came the even more successful Madea’s Family Reunion with a $30M opening and a $63.2M cume. Earlier this year, Perry tested his clout with Daddy’s Little Girls, a movie that he wrote and directed but didn’t appear in. Little Girls opened on the Wednesday prior to President’s Day, and the result was a dramatically softer 6-day opening of $18.7M (the 4-day was $13M and the 3-day was $11.2M).
Now, the New Orleans-born African American entertainer is back on sure footing. His huge following has overcome mixed-to-negative reviews, and Why Did I Get Married? Will likely become the 2nd-best opening of his filmmaking career, trailing only Madea’s Family Reunion. In the process, Perry has beaten back some Hollywood heavyweights like Clooney, Wahlberg, Phoenix and Blanchett.
The Game Plan (Buena Vista), in its 3rd weekend, will finish an impressive #2 for the weekend. The family comedy added $3.2M on Friday (#4 for the day), but Saturday and Sunday matinees will power Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to a 3-day of $12.3M or so. The modestly budgeted Game Plan will rush past the $60M mark by Monday morning.
It will be very close for 3rd place for the weekend, but I anticipate that Michael Clayton (Warner Bros), produced by and starring Oscar winner George Clooney, will finish in the show position. James Gray’s We Own the Night (Sony), starring Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix, grabbed $3.75M on Friday compared to Michael Clayton’s $3.7M, but the older-skewing legal thriller from first-time director Tony Gilroy win the 3-day by a whisker - $11.4M to $11.2M.
EXCLUSIVE FANTASY MOGULS EARLY FRIDAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW - Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? (Lionsgate) - $8.65M - $4,301 PTA - $8.65M cume
2. NEW – We Own the Night (Sony) - $3.75M - $1,588 PTA - $3.75M cume
3. Michael Clayton (Warner Bros) - $3.7M - $1,474 PTA - $4.7M cume
4. The Game Plan (Buena Vista) - $3.2M - $1,023 PTA - $51.1M cume
5. The Heartbreak Kid (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $2.3M - $711 PTA - $20.8M cume
6. NEW – Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Universal) - $2.2M - $1,099 PTA - $2.2M cume
7. The Kingdom (Universal) - $1.29M - $458 PTA - $36.6M cume
8. Across the Universe (Sony) - $1.12M - $1,175 PTA - $10M cume
9. Resident Evil: Extinction (Sony) – $710,000 - $316 PTA - $46.1M cume
10. Good Luck Chuck (Lionsgate) - $586,000 - $301 PTA - $31.3M cume
*Darjeeling Limited (Fox Searchlight) - $282,000 - $2,972 PTA - $1.35M cume
*Into the Wild (Paramount Vantage) - $240,000 - $1,569 PTA - $3.2M cume
*NEW - The Final Season (Yari Film Group) - $200,000 - $198 PTA - $200,000 cume
*Lust, Caution (Focus Features) - $135,500 - $1,760 PTA - $785,000 cume
*The Assassination of Jesse James… (Warner Bros) - $101,420 - $622 PTA - $1M cume
*In the Valley of Elah (Warner Independent) - $101,000 - $139 PTA - $6M cume
*NEW - Lars & the Real Girl (MGM) - $25,760 - $3,680 PTA - $25,760 cume
*NEW – Sleuth (Sony Classics) - $11,169 - $1,241 PTA - $11,169 cume
*NEW – King Corn (Balcony Releasing) - $3,086 - $3,086 PTA - $3,086 cume
EXCLUSIVE FANTASY MOGULS EARLY 3-DAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW - Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? (Lionsgate) - $25.3M - $12,581 PTA - $25.3M cume
2. The Game Plan (Buena Vista) - $12.3M - $3,932 PTA - $60.2M cume
3. Michael Clayton (Warner Bros) - $11.4M - $4,540 PTA - $12.4M cume
4. NEW – We Own the Night (Sony) - $11.2M - $4,742 PTA - $11.2M cume
5. The Heartbreak Kid (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $7.3M - $2,258 PTA - $25.8M cume
6. NEW – Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Universal) - $7M - $3,498 PTA - $7M cume
7. The Kingdom (Universal) - $4.36M - $1,539 PTA - $39.7M cume
8. Across the Universe (Sony) - $3.47M - $3,642 PTA - $12.3M cume
9. Resident Evil: Extinction (Sony) – $2.59M - $1,152 PTA - $48M cume
10. The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (Fox) - $1.99M - $630 PTA - $6.9M
*Darjeeling Limited (Fox Searchlight) - $940,000 - $9,896 PTA - $2M cume
*Into the Wild (Paramount Vantage) - $864,000 - $5,647 PTA - $3.8M cume
*NEW - The Final Season (Yari Film Group) - $540,000 - $534 PTA - $540,000 cume
*Lust, Caution (Focus Features) - $475,000 - $6,169 PTA - $1.1M cume
*In the Valley of Elah (Warner Independent) - $359,000 - $495 PTA - $6.2M cume
*The Assassination of Jesse James… (Warner Bros) - $355,000 - $2,178 PTA - $1.3M cume
*NEW - Lars & the Real Girl (MGM) - $93,000 - $13,286 PTA - $93,000 cume
*NEW – Sleuth (Sony Classics) - $41,000 - $4,556 PTA - $41,000 cume
*NEW – King Corn (Balcony Releasing) - $10,801 - $10,801 PTA - $10,801 cume
Read more at FantasyMoguls.com.
Amy Winehouse Pulls Out Of Video Music Awards
Amy Winehouse Pulls Out Of Video Music Awards
I bet you didn’t see this one coming. Amy Winehouse has just announced that she will not be performing at the September 9th MTV Video Music Awards. And that’s not all.
Apparently, the Rehab singer will not be playing any more shows until she is fully recovered from her “exhaustion.” Her label, Universal Republic Records, said yesterday that all appearances had been canceled, “in a continued effort to support Amy Winehouse’s well-being.”
It has definitely gotten worse as the time has passed. Winehouse went from canceling a concert or two, to canceling entire tours, to beating the crap out of her husband and running down the street crying.
Also, she checked into rehab, then left rehab, and now she’s taking it easy on a Caribbean island. Oh, and did I mention that her parents are feuding with her husband Blake’s parents in the public eye, no less? Man, this is one family reunion I will be sure to skip.
Fergie Called Out By Mom
Fergie Called Out By Mom
There’s just something about parents that makes them able to embarrass us the way no one else can. And Fergie found that out the hard way… on live radio.
With all the rumors about a stripper pole being installed in the “Fergalicious” singer’s house with boyfriend Josh Duhamel, even Fergie’s mom is wondering if it’s true.
And radio host Ryan Seacrest invited Fergie’s mom, Terri, to be a surprise guest on the air for an interview with the singer. The ” Big Girls Don’t Cry” singer was blindsided by her mother’s question, being that she was phoning in the interview from her European tour.
When Terri asked point blank if the rumors were true, Fergie stammered, “Um, I don’t know. I’m going to find out in a few days.” Terri cracked up laughing at the whole thing, saying, “After a year if you’re not using that pole anymore, just turn it horizontal and you can use it as a guardrail for me.”
It looks like they’ll have something to laugh about at the next Fergie Family Reunion.
Orlando Bloom Prepares to Grace West End Stage
Orlando Bloom Prepares to Grace West End Stage
With three record setting Pirates of the Caribbean movies under his belt, Orlando Bloom had to decide what was next for his career. Instead of launching into yet another movie, Bloom has decided to take a turn on the stage in London’s famous West End.
Bloom will star in David Storey’s “In Celebration” at the Duke of York’s Theater. It will mark the stage debut for the big screen actor when the show opens next month. “I have been kind of desperate to do a play for the longest time and this opportunity came up when I met this director, Anna Mackmin, who I’m now working with on a play called In Celebration - a play by David Storey. I was just hungering for an opportunity to be part of an ensemble cast in a great play. It’s a phenomenal play,” Bloom told press.
The role has Bloom developing a new accent, a variation on his own British dialect. “I tell you what my dialect coach, Jill, said ‘Whatever you do, don’t do your accent - save it for the audience [paying] when they come in!’ I’m working on it though!”
According to the play’s summary, “In Celebration” is an exploration of family love and of how the consequences of best intentions can threaten to destroy treasured hopes and dreams. Three brothers return home to the Northern roots of their childhood for a family reunion. Although they have returned to celebrate, the explosive complexities of family life and long-held grievances are unlikely to improve the chances of a decent party.
If you happen to find yourself wandering around London in the next ten weeks, stop by the Duke of York’s theater and check out Orlando’s performance.
For those of you who cannot make it, enjoy the photos of Orlando out and about in London on Tuesday (June 12).