It's All About Family

The story behind Tyler Perry's success in Hollywood is one that we can all learn from. He began writing plays at age 18, making sure that his subject matter had plenty to say about the African American culture and the social issues that confronted them. It took him a decade to establish himself and for his message to catch on. Perry created his own traveling theater company, selling those performances on DVD. As of March 2005, the plays had grossed over $75 million in ticket and disc sales (source Wikipedia). His first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, released last year, was made for a paltry $5 million dollars, but went on to became one of 2005 biggest hits. His second film, Madea's Family Reunion, finds itself following suit, as the number one movie in the land.

According to Box Office Mojo's Brandon Gray:

Audiences congregated at 'Madea's Family Reunion' to the tune of $30 million, but avoided [the other new releases] 'Doogal ' ($3.6 Million, 8th place) and Running Scared'...($3.1 million, 9th place)

You can read Gray's full report here. Meanwhile, for more on Perry, read How Tyler Perry rose from homelessness to a $5 million mansion from Ebony Magazine