The Tyler Perry phenomenon - with Madea Goes To Jail - rolled on at the weekend and eclipsed The Jonas Brothers to hold on to its number one berth for the second consecutive weekend on an estimated $16.5m for $64.9m through Lionsgate.

Revenues for the top 12 releases climbed for the fourth weekend in a
row as box office stayed on course for a record year. Research company
Media By Numbers announced that box office had reached $1.8bn and was tracking 17% ahead of the same time last year.

Arguably the most revealing aspect of Media By Numbers' findings is
that the number of admissions has shot up over the same portion of
2008 by 15%. Whereas inflated box office revenues in recent years have
been driven by a rise in ticket prices that masked a decline in cinema
attendance, the uptick in ticket sales provides further evidence that
Hollywood remains an affordable leisure option during a recession.

Buena Vista had high hopes for Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert
Experience and to be fair the picture performed decently enough to
launch in second place on $12.7m from 1,271 theatres.

Disney's distribution chief Chuck Viane was pleased considering the
average 3D auditorium holds 240 people. He conceded that it was always
going to be hard to match Miley Cyrus - who with her own TV show on
the Disney Channel is a bigger act - and that extraordinary $31.1m
launch a year ago of Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best Of Both Worlds Concert.

Fox Searchlight's Slumdog Millionaire recorded the biggest post-Oscar
bounce of a best picture winner in ten years as it capitalised on
those eight Academy Awards to leap two places to number three and
climb 45% on $12.2m for $115.1m. The picture expanded by 699 into
2,943 theatres and has a shot at crossing $140m.

Fox's kidnapping thriller Taken has been one of the key drivers in this
first quarter and the Liam Neeson vehicle crossed $100m as $9.9m
raised the tally to $107.9m after five weekends. Another crucial
element in Hollywood's lucrative start to the year is Sony's comedy
Paul Blart: Mall Cop starring Kevin James, which ranks sixth and added
$5.6m for $128.1m in its seventh weekend.

Fox's action tale Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li from producers
Hyde Park launched in eighth place on $4.7m. The result was not far
off from what studio executives would have expected and the picture
will make the bulk of its money on DVD and TV.

Next weekend everything will make way for Zack Snyder's graphic novel
adaptation Watchmen, released in North American through Warner Bros
and overseas through Paramount Pictures International in a wide
day-and-date release. Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Crudup, Patrick
Wilson, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Matthew Goode star.

Estimated Top 10 North America Feb 27-Mar 1, 2009
Film (Dist)/Int'l dist/Est wkd gross/Est total to date

1 (1) Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail (Lionsgate) Mandate Int'l $16.5m $64.9m

2 (-) Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $12.7m -

3 (5) Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) Fox Int'l $12.2m $115.1m

4 (3) Taken (Fox) Fox Int'l $9.9m $107.9m

5 (4) He's Just Not That Into You (Warner Bros) New Line Int'l $5.9m $78.5m

6 (7) Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) SPRI $5.6m $128.1m

7 (2) Coraline (Focus Features) FFI $5.3m $61.1m

8 (-) Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li (Fox) Hyde Park Int'l $4.7m -

9 (7) Confessions Of A Shopaholic (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $4.5m $33.7m

10 (9) Fired Up! (Sony) SPRI $3.8m $10.1m

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