'Black Woman' on Verge of Crossover at Box Office

[igofast]

By Nicole Sperling

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - When actor-writer Tyler Perry struck a deal with a top executive at Lions Gate Films early last year to produce and distribute his movie "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," they both agreed it would open huge and all of Hollywood would wonder where Perry had come from and how this little indie film could make such a splash.

Hollywood has responded in just that fashion, with the movie surprising everyone last weekend by opening at No. 1 with ticket sales of $22 million.

But Lions Gate production president Mike Paseornek is no soothsayer. He was paying attention to the growing buzz surrounding Perry, who is as much of an entrepreneur as he is an auteur. During the past 13 years, Perry has developed a loyal following among blacks nationwide with his one-man-band stage productions and DVD sales.

Now Lions Gate and Perry hope the No. 1 slot and a slew of publicity events, including Perry's scheduled appearance Friday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" will help expose the romantic comedy to a crossover audience. Lions Gate will expand "Woman" this weekend by several hundred theaters from its current 1,483 -- less than half of the most of the movies in the top-10.

story

[Geoffrey]

I guess every other movie sucked just that bad?

eh, maybe it's good. From the trailor, it looked kinda dumb. Like a guy dressed as a woman type show

[Jay GW]

Here are some reviews:

"Half inspired and terrible"
-David Edelstein, Slate

"I can't think of a movie that more dramatically shoots itself in the foot"
-Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

"Stay clear of this mess"
-Lou Lumenick, New York Post

Sounds like a piece of s#it.

[Manu]

Haven't even heard about it...

[igofast]

Looks pretty stupid to me, I'm pretty surprised it made as much money as it did.

[Lrechna]

Im not surprised What nation did it premeir in?