Madea played by Tyler Perry (left) and her court-ordered charge Nikki (Keke Palmer) in a scene from the movie 'Madea's Family Reunion'. - CONTRIBUTED
LOS ANGELES, (Reuters):
THE URBAN farce Madea's Family Reunion reigned as the most popular film in North America for a second weekend, but overall sales were weak as the studios focused on Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony.
Madea sold US$13 million worth of tickets across the United States and Canada in the three days beginning March 3, according to estimates from its distributor, Lionsgate. The film, written and directed by Tyler Perry, who also stars in the title role as a crazy granny, has earned US$48.1 million after 10 days. It cost US$6 million to make.
AROUSING CURIOSITY
The comedy is still playing mostly to its core constituency of black women aged 35 and above, but arousing the curiosity of some white movie-goers, said Steve Rothenberg, president of domestic theatrical distribution at the Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. unit.
Four new films entered the marketplace, but they failed to find broad support. The best of the bunch was 16 Blocks, an action movie starring Bruce Willis and Mos Def. It opened at number two with US$11.7 million, falling short of distributor Warner Bros. Pictures' hopes of a bow in the mid-teens.
Ultraviolet, a sci-fi action adventure starring Milla Jovovich, opened at number four with US$9 million, playing mostly to male audiences aged 21 and older, said its distributor, Sony Pictures.
Aquamarine, a mermaid fantasy targeted at young girls, opened at number five with US$7.5 million. The Twentieth Century Fox film stars Emma Roberts, the 15-year-old daughter of Julia Roberts' estranged brother Eric.
Dave Chappelle's Block Party, a concert documentary revolving around a hip-hop gathering organised by the popular comedian, opened at number seven with US$6.5 million. It played strongly to Chappelle's core fan base of college kids and male youngsters, said distributor Focus Features.
None of the films vying for Oscars made the top 10. The best performer was Brokeback Mountain, which was up for eight awards. The total for Focus Features' gay-cowboy drama was about US$2.5 million, taking its total to $78.9 million.
Sony Pictures' Capote, which is up for five Oscars including best picture and actor, earned US$2 million to push its overall take to US$25.9.
Transamerica, which yielded a best-actress nomination for Felicity Huffman, earned US$1.6 million and now has earned $6.8 million to date. It was released by the closely held Weinstein Co. and IFC Films, a unit of Cablevision Systems Corp.
Top 10 movies
1 Madea's Family Reunion US$13 million
2 16 Blocks US$11.7 million
3 Eight Below US$10.3 million
4 Ultraviolet US$ 9 million
5 Aquamarine US$ 7.5 million
6 The Pink Panther US$ 7 million
7 Dave Chappelle's Block Party US$ 6.5 million
8 Date Movie US$ 5.1 million
9 Curious George $US 4.4 million
10 Firewall US$ 3.6 million.
