Critics slammed it, but movie fans packed the theaters this weekend to see, “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail.” The new over-the-top comedy racked up a huge $41 million to easily become the number one film in the country.
Variety reports that this is the seventh Perry film distributed by Lionsgate. So far those films have grossed $300 million at the domestic Box Office. Perry is a writer/producer/director/actor.
The sight of Perry in drag as the aggressive mouthy grandmother, Madea, is enough to make some of us cringe. However, Perry’s fan base has supported the Madea franchise on stage and now on the Big Screen. The first movie in the series, “Madea’s Family Reunion,” was released in 2006 and it has made over $60 million. The second Madea movie is likely to surpass the first film’s gross in a month!
In second place this weekend, the action/thriller “Taken” with around $11.4 million, followed closely in third by the animated family flick “Coraline” with about $11 million. The romantic comedy “He’s Just Not That Into You,” landed in third with $8.5 million and rounding out the top five, the Oscar favorite, “Slumdog Millionaire,” with $8 million.
