Tyler Perry comedy-drama Meet the Browns

[Jahness]

Browns Down Drillbit

by Joal Ryan


Tyler Perry

The Judd Apatow brand is something. The Tyler Perry brand is something else.

The Perry-labeled comedy-drama Meet the Browns, starring Angela Bassett, was the Easter weekend's biggest hit, theater for theater, grossing $20 million off about 2,000 screens, per estimates compiled Sunday by Exhibitor Relations.

Overall, the film placed second. Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, playing on nearly twice as many screens, retained the No. 1 spot with a strong second weekend take of $24.6 million.

Drillbit Taylor, the latest comedy from the Apatow factory, meanwhile, sputtered to the weakest start of any of the major new releases: a $10.3 million take, and a fourth place debut.

At least Drillbit Taylor—a Freaks and Geeks meets The Bodyguard, starring Owen Wilson—was a few steps up the economic ladder from Apatow's last producing effort, Walk Hard, the rock-biopic satire that basically did what satires are said to do: Close on Saturday night.

The prolific Apatow has now gone about seven months without a No. 1 hit, it was noted ironically.

The just as busy Perry has himself gone five months without a box-office topper. But Perry has been arguably more consistent than Apatow of late.

Of Perry's five feature films, four of the five have opened with at least $20 million. Apatow's last five features as producer have either debuted super big (Superbad, Knocked Up, Talledega Nights) or not so much (Walk Hard, Drillbit Taylor). Either label probably would have done Semi-Pro's bell-bottoms some good.

Elsewhere:

• After 12 weekends—nearly 25 percent of the year—Hollywood still doesn't have a $100 million hit. Horton, now standing at $86 million overall, should end the drought by next weekend. • Shutter (third place, $10.4 million), the latest redo of a Japanese horror hit, wasn't The Ring or The Grudge. Frankly, it wasn't even One Missed Call. On the upside, though, it wasn't Dark Water, either. • Under the Same Moon (10th place, $2.8 million), the story of a boy trying to find his illegal-immigrant mother in Los Angeles, cracked the top 10 on the strength of only 266 theaters. Among the weekend's biggest films, its per-screen average was second only to Meet the Browns. • Adam Carolla's movie career is showing more promise than his dancing one. His new Rocky-esque comedy, The Hammer, did all right at 20 theaters, grossing $97,137. • Well, it was close but Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro ($1.1 million; $32.3 million overall, per Box Office Mojo) ended up making more money than A Night at the Roxbury. Barely. • Saying goodbye to the top 10 were Doomsday ($2.2 million; $8.9 million overall); The Other Boleyn Girl ($2 million; $22.5 million overall); The Spiderwick Chronicles ($1.2 million; $67.8 million, per Box Office Mojo); and, the dearly departed Semi-Pro.

Here's a recap of the top-grossing weekend films based on Friday-Sunday estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

• Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, $24.6 million • Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns, $20.1 million • Shutter, $10.4 million • Drillbit Taylor, $10.3 million • 10,000 B.C., $8.9 million • Never Back Down, $4.8 million • College Road Trip, $4.7 million • The Bank Job, $4.2 million • Vantage Point, $3.8 million • Under the Same Moon, $2.8 million

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