Old Murphy shtick outdraws teen rockers

It’s an old, tried and true formula: put a black comic in drag as a mouthy, feisty old woman and let the laughs roll in. Eddie Murphy popularized it and Martin Lawrence capitalized on it; now Tyler Perry is outdrawing the teeny-bopper band, The Jonas Brothers, at the box office.

Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail drew $16.1 million in its second week in release, bringing its two-week take to $64.5 million. That was good enough to secure the top box office spot last weekend as The Jonas Brothers 3D concert movie managed only $12.5 million after a strong start on Friday. And Oscar upstart Slumdog Millionaire won’t need the services of immigration lawyers just yet, as the Bollywood hit has climbed to an even $12 million and third place overall on the box office charts, after sixteen weeks in release.

Taken fell to fourth and was just shy of raking in another $10 million. Below that, everything feel well short of box office glory, including an eighth-place finish and under $5 million for the new Street Fighter live-action film.