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Why Did I Get Married: the question that haunts Britney Spears.

Kim Hollis: Tyler Perry is back in the highlife again as Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? earned an estimated $21.4 million this weekend. Did you expect this result or did you think Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls indicated his appeal was slipping?

Joel Corcoran: The performance was a bit better than I expected, which I think is a good thing. He obviously is able to tap into a vein of the cultural zeitgeist that few other directors and producers have been able to find. I don't think Daddy's Little Girls was an indication Perry's personal appeal was slipping, it was just poorly marketed. The focus in the title and advertising was on the "little girls," but the movie itself was rated PG-13 - not exactly "fun for the whole family." Why Did I Get Married? returns to the style of the Madea movies - a movie about family and personal struggles with adult themes that appeals more to teenagers and adults, rather than kids.

Reagen Sulewski: I've been baffled by the appeal of Tyler Perry's movies from the very beginning, so this is just another data point for that column. I had thought that most of it was based on the actual Madea character, and maybe it was at the beginning, but he seems to be moving beyond that now.





David Mumpower: The most unexpected aspect of this entire phenomenon is that the key seems to be the presence of Tyler Perry himself. Daddy's Little Girls didn't feature him as an actor; even though he wrote and directed it, his lack of on-screen appearance alienated the audience who normally supports him. In Why Did I get Married, he's in front of the camera as well as behind it. That seems to matter for reasons passing understanding. Also, Janet Jackson is now three for three in movies. Poetic Justice's $27.5 million back in 1993 was a *huge* surprise at the time. Nutty Professor II: The Klumps earned $123.3 million, and now there is this hit. Someone should release Fame: The TV Series on DVD and see if the streak continues.

The Game Plan is not loosely based on the life of Tom Brady in spite of what you may have heard.

Kim Hollis: The Game Plan fell only 34% to $11.0 million this weekend, giving it a running total of $59.4 million. Do you consider this to be a hit, and if so, to what do you attribute its success?

Joel Corcoran: I think it's definitely a hit. Not only is it one of the better-performing movies released this fall, it should end up as one of the top 30 movies released in 2007. And with a little luck, it could end up as one of the top five grossing PG-rated movies released this year. The film's success rests squarely on the studio's efforts, particularly marketing. Buena Vista has been making and selling family-friendly "shaggy dog" movies like this one since ... well, they made The Shaggy Dog almost 50 years ago. The Game Plan is just the inverse of The Shaggy Dog storyline. Rather than putting Dad into a chaotic situation he doesn't understand and make him struggle on his own, they took a rugged individualist living a loose, chaotic life and thrust him into the contraints of Fatherhood (with a capital 'F'). Hilarity ensues, families flock to see this feel-good movie, lather, rinse, repeat. Buena Vista can throw out these movies and score just as easily as Tom Brady throws TD passes against the Cowboys. It's just what they do.

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