[ad_1]
LOS ANGELES – For 14 years, Tyler Perry has been a Lionsgate's secret weapon. Perry served up 20 movies to Lionsgate, selling more than $ 1 trillion in tickets and pouring profits into the studio's home entertainment coffers.
That's a partnership with the Perry's low-budget "At Madea Family Funeral." As ever, box office analysts misjudged interest. "A Madea Family Funeral," ostensibly marking the final big-screen appearance by Perry's gun-toting grandmother, sold an estimated $ 27 million in tickets at 2,442 North American theaters, or roughly 30 percent more than analysts had predicted.
The turnout was enough to challenge "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World," the megamovie in the marketplace, for first place at the weekend box office. In the end, "Hidden World" (Universal) pulled ahead to collect roughly $ 30 million at 4,286 cinemas, for a total of $ 97.7 million, according to Comscore. The big-budget animated sequel has collected an additional $ 277 million overseas.
[[Read Tyler Perry's essay about the end of Madea]
Universal also had a "Green Book," the contentious winner of best picture at the recent Academy Awards. "Green Book," the feel-good story of a white driver and his black client in segregation-era America, took in about $ 5 million, more than double what it collected the previous weekend. "Green Book," which has won $ 188 million worldwide for Universal and Participant Media.
Even so, the most significant weekend results Lionsgate. Robin Hood "and" Hunter Killer. "Last year, Lionsgate released 19 movies through various labels $ 379 million, its worst annual showing since 2007.
In 2017, when Lionsgate had breakouts like "Wonder" and "The Land," domestic sales totaled $ 884 million.
The studio expects a turn starting next month, when it will release a new "Hellboy" movie. A third chapter in the "John Wick" action series and "Long Shot," a comedy starring Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron, will arrive in May.
Lionsgate Goal can not be relied on Perry. Going forward, Paramount Pictures has exclusive first-look rights to his movies as part of an overarching deal with Viacom, its corporate owner.
"Tyler Perry is an incomparable talent, and our door is always open to him," Lionsgate said in a statement. "We look forward to doing more projects with him in the future."
"It's been a great experience to work with Lionsgate over the race of 20 movies," Perry said. "I could not ask for a more collaborative team to help bring my stories to audiences."
[ad_2]
Source link