'Madea Goes to Jail' and Perry goes to the bank (MBN)

By Paul Dergarabedian

Tyler Perry proves that he is as consistent as Pixar or Harry Potter when it comes to churning out the box-office hits with "Madea Goes to Jail," his fourth theatrical film out of seven releases to debut at number one.

He also proves that dressing up as woman is no drag as "Madea" earns an incredible bail busting $41.1 million. This is Perry's biggest opening weekend yet, besting the $30 million debut of 2006's "Madea's Family Reunion." Madea may have gone to jail, but Tyler Perry took another trip to the bank.

"Taken" might as well just take up permanent residence in the top 5 as it refuses to be taken away. Audiences continued to make this their thriller of choice, giving it another $11.4 million this weekend as it nudges toward the $100 million mark.

In third is "Coraline" which adds $11 million to the till while crossing the $50 million mark as it continues to draw audiences with its creepy and unique cinematic vision as realized by visionary director Henry Selick.

In fourth is "He's Just Not That Into You" which continues its march toward the $75 million mark with an $8.5 million night out. It appears that women would rather date this movie and leave their useless boyfriends at home.

Finally and appropriately rounding out the Top 5 is the great "Slumdog Millionaire" which on Oscar Sunday found itself with almost $100 million in domestic box-office.

With box-office winnings of $8 million and a weekend over weekend uptick of 11%, this film is getting more than a little help from Oscar as it becomes a mainstream blockbuster.

<> Movie going was likely to drop on Sunday night thanks to the Oscar telecast but it's no matter since the box-office will be up by 30% this weekend and has been ahead of the comparable weekend in 2008 for all but one weekend this year.

3-DAY ESTIMATES

1. "Madea Goes to Jail" $41,120,000 2032 screens

2. "Taken" $11,400,000 3102 screens

3. "Coraline" $11,031,035 2155 screens

4. "He's Just Not That Into You" $8,540,000 3050 screens

5. "Slumdog Millionaire" $8,050,000 2244 screens

6. "Friday the 13th" $7,825,000 3105 screens

7. "Confessions of a Shopaholic" $7,019,000 2507 screens

8. "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" $7,000,000 2835 screens

9. "Fired Up" $6,000,000 1810 screens

10. "The International" $4,450,000 2364 screens