Tyler Perry and '9' bring promising fare to late-summer box office

By Sarah Sluis

Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself (2,255 screens) is a strong contender for number one this weekend, with an expected gross in the high teens to early twenties. His films never screen for critics, but consistently draw in his loyal fans, who are predominantly African-American. In this movie, which is based on one of his plays, his alter ego Madea is a jumping-off point to tell a story centered on Taraji P. Henson (who was nominated for an Oscar last year for Benjamin Button). Madea (the old woman played by Perry) catches three siblings robbing her home. She drops them off at the house of their aunt, a nightclub singer who is unfit to take care of the children. Their presence, along with that of a boarder, helps change Henson for the better. With a targeted wide release, this heartwarming comedy should bring in a high per-screen average.

Animated caper film 9 opened on Wednesday in 1,661 theatres and brought in $3.1 million. The Focus Features release is rated PG-13, so it's targeted towards an older crowd intrigued by director Shane Acker's sophisticated blend of "Eastern European animation, Japanese anime and such live-action visions of the apocalypse as James Cameron's Terminator films," which create a "distinct futurescape." Our critic Ethan Alter also praised the film for its "wonderful tactility. Instead of wielding advanced technology, the characters have to fashion tools and weapons out of whatever is at hand in the giant landfill that is this future Earth."

Rounding out the week's offerings are two genre pictures, Whiteout (2,745 screens) and Sorority Row (2,665 screens). Whiteout stars Kate Beckinsale as a researcher solving a murder mystery in Antarctica. Critic Stephen Farber find her "earnestness...ludicrous in a potboiler like this one," and panned the thriller's predictable ending. Those in search of college girls screaming for their lives can check out Sorority Row. A remake of House on Sorority Row, and a lesson in karma, the horror movie centers on five attractive sisters who accidentally kill one of their own, only to be stalked to the death by a serial killer. On IMDB, one of its actors is credited as "Bra-clad sister," which just about sums up what viewers are in for.

On Monday, we'll circle back to count the spoils of Tyler Perry's next moneymaker, 9, and the battle between the ice-cold Whiteout and the scary-sexy Sorority Row.