Box Office Update 2/24-2/26: Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion

Outdoing my predictions, and likely those of many others, Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion took in more than $30 million at the box office this past weekend. Personally, I don't much interest in seeing this, and no offense to Perry's fans, I don't see the appeal. My only hope, between this and Big Momma's House 2, is that we have seen the last of the male comedians dressing up like older, heavyset women in the name of comedy. I do believe we have reached the limit. I am, however, happy to see a new face making films that have gotten good reception, enough to make a new player in the Hollywood game. Now, is there anything else Tyler Perry can do?

The two other new releases this performed poorly. First being Doogal, the animated children's fantasy based upon the BBC's The Magical Roundabout. I made the mistake of seeing it, and was quite nearly put to sleep. This was a dreadfully dull adventure, mediocre to poor animation, poor voice acting (except for Jon Stewart), and a story that never truly takes off. I am all for films for the whole family, but this is not the one to see. The second is Running Scared, Paul Walker's second film in two weeks, both of which are in the top ten. This one is a winner, despite the cold reception it has received. An over the top adrenaline rush of a film that probably won't be around long.

Paul Walker's other film is the Disney flick Eight Below. Who would have guessed that Walker would ever have two top ten films, for two completely different audiences, and have them both be worth seeing? Not me, that's for sure. But the cold facts are both of these films are very good and should be seen. So, go see them!

A few films are showing surprisingly strong legs. One is The Pink Panther, which is simply put, a bad movie. I must be wrong as it still keeps to be drawing them in. Another is Firewall, which held steady at 6th place. Finally there is Curious George, which has quietly gathered a nice sum to its name.

Three films have been knocked out of the top ten this week, When a Stranger Calls (11), Big Momma's House 2 (12), and Nanny McPhee (13).

This Week	Last Week	Title	Wknd Gross	Overall	Week in release
1	N	Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion	$30,030,661	$30,030,661	1
2	1	Eight Below	$15,872,840	$45,206,288	2
3	3	The Pink Panther	$11,101,845	$60,847,581	3
4	2	Date Movie	$9,125,555	$33,812,965	2
5	4	Curious George	$7,213,870	$43,347,785	3
6	6	Firewall	$6,682,212	$37,295,572	3
7	5	Final Destination 3	$5,495,785	$44,944,694	3
8	N	Doogal	$3,605,899	$3,605,899	1
9	N	Running Scared	$3,381,974	$3,381,974	1
10	7	Freedomland	2,872,215	$10,750,360	2

Let's close this with a look at the pecking order that I had predicted, and see just how bad I did.

Predicted. (Actual)

1. (2) Eight Below. My position call was close, but the dollars were way off! It was nice to that it only suffered a small drop.
2. (8) Doogal. Not as nearly as good a draw as I had thought it would be, of course, the movie terribly dull.
3. (1) Madea's Family Reunion. I don't have a desire to see this, but it seems that a lot more people than I thought did, pushing to a pretty impressive opening.
4. (3) Pink Panther. Why are people still seeing this?
5. (4) Date Movie. See above.
6. (7) Final Destination 3. I thought that this would have dropped further, but there really aren't many choices.
7. (9) Running Scared. This did not open well at all, I hope it sticks around for a bit, because I liked it alot.
8. (5) Curious George. Hanging onto its audience admirably, maybe I should have seen this rather than Doogal.
9. (6) Firewall. Mediocre films continue to retain an audience, I can't wait until something better comes along.
10. (10) Freedomland. Not a good movie, and finally the audience reacts appropriately.

Not a good week for my predictions, 1 right.

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