Madea Tops Box Office Over Jonas Bros.

Jonas Brothers proved this weekend that they are no Miley Cyrus.

The teen pop stars’ 3-D concert film, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, opened in twice as many theaters as last year’s Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds but grossed a scant $12.7 million at the box office — less than half of Cyrus’ bow. Jonas still managed to pull in a solid average of $10,000 but grossed far less than what most prognosticators were predicting. It also wasn’t strong enough to best Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail, which won its second weekend in a row with $16.5 million. Madea’s total now stands at $64.9 million.

Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire showed that the Academy Awards can mean something at the box office, grossing $12.2 million in its widest weekend of release since bowing more than four months ago. The Danny Boyle-directed film’s total gross soared 45 percent for the weekend and now stands at an impressive $115.1 million. Liam Neeson’s Taken became the second unlikely film of the year, after Paul Blart: Mall Cop, to cross the $100 million, grossing an additional $10 million its fifth week of release. The film, whose gross stands now at $107 million, dropped an amazing 12 percent — not bad for an under-the-radar action thriller. And rounding out the top five is New Line’s He’s Just Not That Into You. The romantic-comedy ensemble grossed $5.9 million to put its total at $78.5 million.

The other new wide release, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, grossed $4.6 million as expected, for an eighth spot in the line-up. Box office as a whole was up 11 percent for the frame, which is quite impressive considering it was a pretty quite weekend as everyone awaits the debut of next weekend’s Watchmen.

Credit: EW