MoeJackson

Ted could earn as much as $20 million on Friday for a weekend opening of $47 million to $50 million — one of the top debuts of all time for an R-rated comedy and eclipsing the $45 million earned by The Hangover in 2009.[The Hollywood Reporter]

Here’s something that’s about as surprising as Katie Holmes filing for divorce from Tim Cruise: an R-rated comedy that’s about to bust the box office. Having taken in a well-above expectations $20 million on Friday alone, Ted is now on track to make as much (if not more) than the record-breaking open set by The Hangover back in 2009.

Other big releases are also doing well at the box office, including Magic Mike and Madea’s Witness Protection. People Like Us is the only real new family drama/comedy out at the marquee, but it doesn’t seem to be poised to open strongly, especially with so many adults opting for repeat viewings of last week’s champ from Disney-Pixar, Brave.

It’s always hard to review a movie like Madea’s Witness Protection because it wasn’t made to please critics, nor was it made to be (for lack of a better word) good. It’s meant to cash in on what is now a standard-bearing and groan-inducing cash cow encased in the form of a 40-something year old black man playing a version of the no-nonsense elderly black women he claims to populate his life. How true or false that may actually be will be something I leave for others to settle. I just watch the movies – and only because I have no choice some times.

Here’s the basic premise: Eugene Levy’s family finds themselves involved involuntarily in a ponzi scheme that results in the loss of millions from a mob boss. He wants the family dead. So a plan is hatched by the authorities to hide them . . . in Madea’s house. Hilarious, right?! Oh, them wacky grannies sho’ know how to crack ’em!

The humor is derived from the fact that Madea does not suffer fools gladly, and fools she gets plenty in the spoiled white children that show up to not be killed. I’m not entirely sure the kids didn’t think they’d be better off if they were left at the hands of the mobsters. Of course, the mobsters get wind of the family’s whereabouts and the inevitable confrontation with Madea takes place.

Someone told me that this is the seventh movie starring Madea. Usually movies that make that many sequels end up in the dustbin of movie history or on the discount VHS aisle at Blockbuster (see Police Academy, The Land Before Time). Will there be an eighth Madea? If Tyler Perry’s girdle has anything to say about it, surely there will be.