In a shocking upset, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married easily topped the box-office with a much higher than expected $21.5 million haul. Ordinarily, I'm on the side of the underdog, but Perry's movies are so aggresively mediocre that I'm not looking forward to the glut of his product that is now certain to follow. Then again, Why Did I Get Married is hardly worse than The Game Plan which finished second in its third weekend with a strong $11.5M ($59.4M). Pabulum reigns in Hollywood! Some motherfucker greenlight Looks Who's Talking 12!

George Clooney continued his long slide at the box office (at least for any movie that doesn't start with the word Oceans). His Michael Clayton went wide this weekend and brought in an underwhelming $11M ($12M). Warner Brothers has now successfully screwed the pooch on its best two movies of the fall--Clayton and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Jim Gray's We Own the Night also opened weakly. Expected to contend for the weekend crown, it didn't even come close ($11M).

Considering its poor first weekend, The Heartbreak Kid did okay in its second frame ($7.4M, $26.0M). Elizabeth: The Golden Age was crippled by poor reviews, debuting with a lackluster $6.1M. The rest of the top 10 was pro forma: The Kingdom ($4.5M, $39.9M), Across the Universe ($4M, $12.9M), Resident Evil: Extinction ($2.6M, $48M), and The Seeker: The Dark is Rising ($2.1M, $7.1M). Control ($27,000 per) and Lars and the Real Girl ($12,142 per) shined in limited release. Sleuth was decent ($5566) while The Final Season ($657) died.

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate Entertainment