Is Madea finally DOA?
After Tyler Perry hinted that his most famous creation might “die a quick death,” his latest entry in the popular series of comedies under-performed at the box office.
A Madea Christmas opened with just $16 million this weekend, which is well below his previous Madea films, which all opened north of $20 million.
Granted, competition was fierce. Perry’s latest opened up against the debut of the latest Hobbit film, which made a whopping $74 million.
Perry has seen diminishing returns with several of his recent releases, but the film did receive an A- Cinemascore average from filmgoers.
According to Box Office Guru, “the audience for the Lionsgate release was 67 percent female and 63 percent 25 and up.”
Reviews for the film were particularly harsh. The Washington Post called it “an insensitive, unfunny cringer” and Variety called the film “an exceptionally poor piece of holiday cash-in product.” But Perry’s films have typically proven to be critic-proof at the box office.
Only time will tell if movie fans have soured on the prolific filmmaker. His next release, Single Girls Club, is due out in March of next year.