After a $7 million gross on Friday alone it looks like Diary of a Mad Black Woman will be the surprise champion of the weekend box office. The small indie film distributed by Lions Gate, with promotional help from BET, is shaping up to be a big success story for playwright and actor Tyler Perry. The reviews were pretty poor but many wisely acknowledged potential breakout appeal, probably due to the overwhelming success Perry has achieved onstage.
If Diary isn't #1 for the weekend it will mean the third week at the top spot for Will Smith's romantic comedy Hitch. Either way 2005 is starting off as an extremely strong year for black actors in Hollywood. (Also consider the record setting four black Oscar nominees, and of course Chris Rock's Oscar hosting gig - more on that above.)
Are we seeing the emergence of a new trend? Will major studios wake up to the audience for black films? History says it's not very likely.
I haven't seen the movie, but I feel like I have after reading Owen Gleiberman's Entertainment Weekly review. It's an extremely well written piece that acknowledges the film's faults but also the need for a movie, any movie, like this. Gleiberman also points out the failure of Hollywood studios to follow up on the success of Waiting to Exhale with anything else.
Personally, at the very least, I'd be happy if Diary signals nothing more than a breakthrough for the underrated and underused talents of Kimberly Elise. Maybe she can co-star in the next Will Smith romantic comedy.
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