Tyler Perry once again proved he is a forced to be reckoned with as his latest film Why Did I Get Married? easily took the number one spot at the box office this weekend, nearly doubling the nearest competitor. The other debuting films met with so-so results and there's a tight race for the runner-up spot.

The filmgoing audience showed once again that if Tyler Perry headlines a film, they're going to come out to see it. Why Did I Get Married?  brought in an estimated $21.5M this weekend for a powerful per screen average of $10,691. The opening was on par with Perry's first smash, 2005's Diary of a Mad Black Woman which opened with $21.9M and an even stronger $14,771 average. Unlike the last film with Perry's name attached, Daddy's Little Girls, which opened with a softer $11.2M, Why Did I Get Married? features Perry in a starring role. Throw in the popular Janet Jackson as a co-star and you've got a formula for success.

Dropping one spot was two-time box office champ The Rock in The Game Plan which fell only 30% this weekend to an estimated $11.5M. The 30% drop was easily the best hold in the top 10 this week, and its cume now stands at $59.4M. With the recent success of comedies featuring tough guys and cute kids, it seems only a matter of time before there's a sequel to Mr. Nanny.

Battling The Rock for second place were two films that were within $10,000 of each other this weekend. Currently sitting in third is the George Clooney starrer Michael Clayton. Expanding nationally from its successful debut last weekend, the Warner Bros. award hopeful took in an estimated $11M this weekend, for a solid per screen average of $4,385, bringing its cume to $12.1M. Following closely on its heels was the Joaquin Phoenix/Mark Wahlberg thriller We Own the Night which also debuted to an estimated $11M, for a per screen average of $4,179. When the actual numbers come in on Monday, the 2nd through 4th films could easily move around.

Falling 47% from its less-than-powerful opening last weekend was the Ben Stiller R-rated comedy The Heartbreak Kid which laughed up an estimated $7.4M this weekend, bringing its total to a disappointing $26M. Look for a final theatrical run in the $45-50M range, which is reasonable for a lot of films, but not for a Ben Stiller/Farrelly Brothers comedy.

Opening in sixth place this weekend was the historical sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Bringing back star Cate Blanchett and director Shekhar Kapur nine years after the success of the original Elizabeth didn't mean much for audiences as the film brought in an estimated $6.2M this weekend for a per screen average of $3,169. A run on early season awards could help the overall gross of the film, otherwise it may fade away quickly.

In seventh was the war drama The Kingdom which fell 53% from last weekend to an estimated $4.5M. Its total now stands at a shade under $40M. Adding a few hundred screens this weekend and crashing into the top 10 was Across the Universe which features the songs of the Beatles. The film took in $4M in its fourth weekend, according to estimates, bringing its total to $12.9M.

In ninth place this weekend was Resident Evil: Extinction which took in $2.6M in its fourth lap around the country, bringing its total to $48M. And rounding out the top 10 was The Seeker: The Dark is Rising which fell 42% from its soft opening last weekend to an estimated $2.1M. Its cume stands at $7M and it should end up in the $12-14M range with some hope for success on DVD. The only other film debuting this weekend was the high school baseball pic The Final Season which opened to an estimated $665K for a per screen average of a pitiful $658. Look for the film to quickly appear in DVD bargain bins.

The top 10 grossed $81.4M this weekend, which was down 15% from 2006 when The Grudge 2 opened with $20.8M, but up 23% from 2005 when another horror film, The Fog, bowed on top with $11.7M.

Author: Sujit Chawla, www.boxofficeguru.com