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Ho-hum, another Tyler Perry movie, another first place opening. The man is a franchise unto himself, obviously, and it’s somewhat heartening that this – his seventh film in four years – is his consensus best; maybe Lionsgate will actually screen his next one (coming in April, natch) for critics. **(http://www.cinematical.com/2009/09/12/review-i-can-do-bad-all-by-myself/) *didn’t put up the numbers that Madea Goes to Jail](http://www.moviefone.com/movie/tyler-perrys-madea-goes-to-jail/34676/main) did earlier this year (despite the apparent presence of Madea – I wonder if her name in the title is what makes the difference), but $24 million was more than enough for first place on a low-key weekend.
Interesting that first second and third place this week went to films by Lionsgate, Focus and the Weinstein Co., respectively. Second place went to Focus’s 9](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/09/09/review-9/), which opened on Wednesday to mixed reviews and around $15 million for the five days; the distributor aimed low, with a 1600 screen release, and the film did probably as well as it could have, despite that spectacular trailer. Inglourious Basterds](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/08/20/review-inglourious-basterds/), still holding up pretty well, took third and crossed the $100 million mark.
Further down the list we see a weird glut of late-summer horror: Whiteout and Sorority Row](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/09/11/sorority-row-movie-review/) opened against each other, just a couple weeks after The Final Destination](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/08/28/review-the-final-destination/) and Halloween II](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/08/28/review-halloween-2/) opened against each other. Both of this week’s openers wound up with about $5 million to show for it; given that neither is a brand name or particularly distinctive, they probably didn’t lose much. Halloween II sank out of the top 10, while The Final Destination hung around and is now the top-grossing movie in the franchise with $58 million.
The top ten films after the jump.
Continue reading Weekend Box Office: Tyler Perry, the Surest Bet in Town*