According to Boxofficemojo, Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail came out on top over the weekend at domestic theaters. As of early estimates, the film brought in over $40 million, proving that Tyler Perry's name can still sell tickets. This is great news for Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF), which was looking to score a big hit after experiencing some weak performances at the box office.

Tyler Perry beat out News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) successful thriller Taken, which landed in the second spot. Coming in third was Coraline from General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) Focus Features, although those two films could change positions once final numbers are in. Both of them scored around the $11 million mark. Time Warner Inc's (NYSE: TWX) He's Just Not That Into You was fourth and News Corp.'s Slumdog Millionaire, the toast of the Oscars telecast last night, was fifth. Both of those features scored similar amounts, about $8 million each, so we'll see what happens with their respective rankings. Poor Jason Voorhees. Last week, his movie, Friday the 13th, killed at the box office. This week, the slasher dropped 80% in terms of gross and landed in sixth place after debuting in the top slot. Talk about a bloody decline for Time Warner. Horror movies do tend to go down fast after the opening weekend, but I thought this particular feature might exhibit more strength.

Continue reading Tyler Perry's new 'Madea' movie brings in bucks for Lions Gate

Tyler Perry's new 'Madea' movie brings in bucks for Lions Gate originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It was a great Valentine's Day weekend for Time Warner (NYSE: TWX). According to Boxofficemojo, the remake of Friday the 13th took the top spot, hacking up over $40 million at domestic theaters for the three-day weekend as of early estimates. Even if those estimates change a little, the horror flick is staying put in first place. Michael Bay was the producer on this film, and he brought his slick sensibility to the sick classic.

And, of course, he made sure that Jason Voorhees was prominently featured in the project, even though the supernatural serial killer wasn't the antagonist in the original source material. That was a good decision (although I do sometimes wonder what it would have been like if Bay had stayed true to the original and just used Jason's mother as the killer), considering that Jason is the heart of the brand equity of this franchise. I'll tell you, when I saw the early numbers reported at the beginning of the weekend, I was amazed at how good the business was for Friday. Every marketing cylinder was hit on this one.

Continue reading Time Warner and Jason take the top spot at the box office

Time Warner and Jason take the top spot at the box office originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Poor Steve Martin. I really like that guy. He's funny, he's intellectual, and he's an all-around cool gentleman. Unfortunately for him, his latest film, a sequel to the 2006 version of The Pink Panther, failed at the box office over the weekend.

According to Boxofficemojo, The Pink Panther 2, distributed by Sony (NYSE: SNE), is estimated as of this writing to have taken in only $12 million at domestic theaters. That was terrible, and it gave the picture a fourth-place ranking, just above Sony's other comedy in the marketplace, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which will cross the $100 million mark soon. So, I guess Sony has something to take its corporate mind off the Martin debacle.

Continue reading Steve Martin and Sony (SNE) bomb at the box office

Steve Martin and Sony (SNE) bomb at the box office originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.