Tyler Perry’s “Alex Cross” not killing at the box office
Tyler Perry in a movie still from "Alex Cross"
When we interviewed Tyler Perry ahead of the release of his new movie “Alex Cross,” we asked if more movies based on James Patterson’s detective novels could be in his future.
“That’s going to depend on the audience,” he said.
The audience does not appear to be clamoring for more. The action thriller about a hard-charging detective on the hunt of a ruthless murderer did not have a killer weekend at the box office.
“‘Alex Cross’ is Perry’s lowest-grossing opener as an actor; it is the second-lowest debut of his career, after ‘Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls,’ which he wrote, directed and produced,” reported E Online.
Citing Friday-Sunday stats compiled by studios and Exhibitor Relations, E reported that “Paranormal Activity 4″ led the weekend box office with a $30.2 million haul. Ben Affleck’s superb “Argo,” based on the true story of how Americans escaped Iran after the siege on the Tehran embassy, was next with a $16.6 million weekend. (Here’s a link to our recent interview with Affleck).
Then came ”Hotel Transylvania” ($13.5 million), “Taken 2″ ($13.4 million) and then “Alex Cross,” at $11.8 million.
The reviews for “Alex Cross” haven’t been great.
“A grim, dispiritingly stupid waste of time, energy, money and talent,” wrote The New York Times, which went on to say that if there are to be further movies starring Perry as Cross, “you will need to fire the writers and the director. And then you will need to help Mr. Perry rethink his performance, which lacks both nuance and the majestic, uncompromising wrath that makes Madea so memorable.”
The Los Angeles Times didn’t like the movie either, but noted Perry “has the talent to move beyond the world of Madea should he want to. He just needs to look for much better material.”
The movie fared better in The Examiner’s review, which said, “If the first installment of ‘Alex Cross’ is any indication of what is to come, I look forward to the next episode.”
Did you see “Alex Cross?” If not, do you plan to?
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89 comments Add your comment
Chris
October 22nd, 2012
1:04 pm
Still plan to…
Carl Jackson
October 22nd, 2012
1:04 pm
Saw it over the weekend and was ready to walk out within 15 minutes. TERRIBLE. Tyler Perry has to be the worst “actor” in the industry.
George Davis
October 22nd, 2012
1:12 pm
I loved the movie. I agree with James Patterson, Cross’s creator, Tyler Perry is Alex Cross. I look forward to more Alex Cross movies with Tyler Perry. Kudos to Mr Patterson, Mr Perry, and the rest of the marvelous crew… more, more, more!
Deat Brown
October 22nd, 2012
1:13 pm
I enjoyed the movie. It showed a different side to Tyler Perry and I enjoyed looking at Matthew Fox (he made me want to work out after I left the theater).
hissyfit
October 22nd, 2012
1:13 pm
so when will tyler finally come out of the closet? dude you aint foolin nobody
GAPeach
October 22nd, 2012
1:17 pm
I love and respect Tyler Perry. I love to see actors showing their other creative sides. I saw the movie yesterday and everyone I told about the movie all asked the same question….was it any good? I feel people don’t know how to live outside the box, stop being so negative about everything …..I enjoyed it and would recommend other’s to see it as well! Keep it up TP…!
VinylT
October 22nd, 2012
1:42 pm
Yeah… I’m not buying all these positive user comments for one second. Tyler Perry’s publicity machine is obviously in damage-control overdrive.
Tonjones
October 22nd, 2012
1:44 pm
I saw it and thought it was a pretty good movie. Tyler’s not the best actor and some parts were unrealistic which I blame the screenwriters/director for. Overall, I’d give it a B- and say it’s about as good as anything else out these days.
Kimberly
October 22nd, 2012
1:52 pm
I saw the movie and I would give Tyler Perry a 9 on the acting. I think the movie script could have been stronger in the area of suspense and action. The fight scene was a blur because the cameras were too close to the action. Overall, I would give the movie a 9 out of 10.
Tyler you did a great job and I would love to see you continue to step outside of the Madea role. Oh, and keep up the good work on that body of yours, YUM!
BigdaddyJ
October 22nd, 2012
1:58 pm
He cannot act, period.
John
October 22nd, 2012
2:02 pm
Tyler Perry has just realized that making b rated tv shows on TBS doesn’t make you a movie star. With REAL actors like Idris Elba and Chiwetel Ejiofor out there, Perry should never been given this role. Hopefully they now see no one wants to see Perry in this role and it should be given to someone else.
John
October 22nd, 2012
2:03 pm
Kimberly, I am sure he works out but you are not his…ummm type.
Kellai
October 22nd, 2012
2:17 pm
I am a James Patterson fan and Alex Cross is my favorite character. I think that Tyler Perry did a good job playing Alex Cross; however, I really had hoped that Denzel Washington would reprise the role of Alex Cross after Morgan Freeman. All in all Tyler Perry did a commendable job for his first movie based on a major author’s character.
lovergirl
October 22nd, 2012
2:18 pm
This weekend I saw both Alex Cross and Taken 2 and I must say I preferred Alex Cross. I think Tyler Perry did an outstanding job. Kudos
Tonya
October 22nd, 2012
2:31 pm
I must say that when I initially saw that Tyler Perry had been given the role of Alex Cross, I was disappointed. I had a hard time picturing him as anything other than Madea. However, I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and I think he handled the role well. I look forward to seeing Tyler Perry take on other various roles as his acting career progresses.
Frederic
October 22nd, 2012
2:55 pm
I enjoyed the movie and will go to see it again this week on a date night. I can’t understand why the studio didn’t put more money behind the first week’s ads. Did they want it to show weakly so the “I told you so” thing can be used to hold him, or other Black actors back? Everyone that enjoyed it should post that on their social media sites. Let’s support this gentleman who ALWAYS makes positive impacts with his own films, even in the Madea series.
Eric
October 22nd, 2012
2:57 pm
@ Jennifer….I guess the AJC didn’t get the ill response they expected this time from the fans huh?
Frederic
October 22nd, 2012
2:57 pm
BTW Don Cheadle may have been the best choice, but the movie was still with entertaining.
Pandora
October 22nd, 2012
3:04 pm
I LOVE Tyler Perry. I didn’t get a chance to see his movie this weekend, but I will go. He is a great producer/actor and over all a great person. I LOVE ALL of his stuff.
Wuzz Up
October 22nd, 2012
3:05 pm
The Movie was Brilliant, some critics are harsh just because they can be, makes them feel good and they are probally over compensating for some short comings. I do wish the movie would have came out around Thanksgiving, Taken 2 was just too much competition.
knobsaw
October 22nd, 2012
3:28 pm
Saw the movie with my wife and it was average at best. Perry is not believable in the role, and he was able to add too many elements from his genre of expertise to a film that could have been very good, with the right actor and better action/suspense scenes.
Becky
October 22nd, 2012
3:39 pm
Not sure that I agree with Tyler Perry as Alex Cross..back in the day, I would of loved to see Denzel or Morgan Freeman..Today I would love to have seen Rockmond Dunbar in the role..Or Cuba Gooding, Jr. Idris Elba or Omar Epps..
Sick & Tired Of Being Sick & Tired
October 22nd, 2012
4:10 pm
I find it really interesting that it appears that those on this blog that have something negative to say….DIDN’T SEE THE MOVIE on the opening weekend. Instead, they are blasting their dislike for Tyler Perry…….
Just to confirm….that is not at all what the article is about!!!!! And for the record…..of the movies that opened the weekend of October 19th through 21st here is the gross for the top four:
Paranormal Activity 4 $30 Million
Alex Cross $11.750 Million
The Sessions $121 Thousand
Brooklyn Castle $22 Thousand
Quintricia F Carpenter
October 22nd, 2012
4:24 pm
Lisa, why are you telling what happened to Maria N the movie? Dang girl, some of us haven’t even seen it yet….lol!!
Letitia Cannon
October 22nd, 2012
4:55 pm
I saw Alex Cross last weekend and I have to say I liked the movie but I wasn’t impressed with Tyler Perry in that “role”. Matthew Fox stole the show. His performance was superb! I don’t think Perry’s performance was bad, this type of film isn’t the right vehicle for his talents. He just doesn’t come across as a tough ” kick but” macho type of guy. He definitely can’t portray the romantic sexy strong type. However, he does need to extend his horizons past the “Madea” character but not with this type of role. It’s just not believable. I am sorry… but I do love Tyler. I know he doesn’t want to be stereotyped or pigeon holed into one character but “dance with the one who brought you”.
Idon'thavetobeafan
October 22nd, 2012
5:21 pm
First of all, it is not his movie and he didn’t cast himself. I think Tyler Perry needs to make up his mind what he want impact what he is trying to accomplish. Is he an actor, a writer, a director, a producer. I mean really? Does Spielberg or George Lucas, act, write, direct, produce? He’s all over the place. Wants to do it all. The problem with Tyler Perry is he does not want to give up any creative control. That’s why is movies are so bad, he only wants to show his perspective. An old saying. Jack of all trades “Master” of NONE!!!
Quentin
October 22nd, 2012
5:58 pm
WOW! Alex Cross certainly surprised me. Great job Tyler!!!
I was looking hard for the Madea character to come out….it did not. What I saw was more like a big bulky brother who had a reason to mad as hell! Now that was SCARRY! Remember the 1970’s, “Black Cesar, Shaft, and Up-town Saturday Night”.
Way to go Tyler.
Veronica Gallimore
October 22nd, 2012
6:18 pm
We read the reviews of Alex Cross, and went to see the movie anyway. Our experience with most of the reviewers has been that most of the time they are way off base. We have never let a review determine if we saw a film or not, basically because they get it wrong most of the time. To be honest, I feel they have a vendetta against Mr. Perry, and will do what ever they can, to stop people from going to see his films. They feel if their reviews can stop people that are not of ethnic background, from going to see his movies, it will drag the box office down, resulting in a bad showing. Most of them are haters. They hate the fact that Mr. Perry,who is African American, has come from his humble background, and succeeded at creating the empire that he has. They can’t stand it, so they try everything they can to drag him down. Until he came along there has been no one of ethnic background with this magnitude of success. They are afraid he will open the doors for more.
BARBARA
October 22nd, 2012
7:08 pm
Wonderful movie. I hope people will give it another chance. James Patterson is one of my favorite authors, and Tyler Perry is a wonderful actor. The two together in my eyes are wonderful.
Cassandra Hopkins
October 23rd, 2012
9:40 am
Yes, I plan to see this movie. Reviews of people who’s opinion I value, were all good. I never let what critic say regarding movies influence my viewing choices.
Deloris Moran
October 23rd, 2012
10:58 am
Great movie!!!! This just shows another side of a man with many talents..
Mrs. Valicia Lewis -Perry
October 23rd, 2012
7:36 pm
I’m so proud to see your new look & character in Alex Cross. I have yet to check out the film. I’m sure you have done a terrific job as usual. Can’t wait to engage & enjoy the movie on bootleg. (LOL) I no you disapprove. I’m joking nice to no your open for all types of roles. I guess I can get that Madea spot I wanted years ago. Take care good works & things on that level.
YG%B
October 23rd, 2012
9:04 pm
It was true to the book which is usually not so. I found it entertaining and it kept my attention. James Patterson has not been writing superb novels lately as he appears to spit one out every few months; I’m not surprised that a movie based on one of his recent books is not “a” list; although it’s definitely worth seeing.YG$
Washington, DC - Frankie
October 24th, 2012
9:54 am
I really enjoyed the movie and I thought you did a fantastic job. I am an Alex Cross fan and I was very please with what I saw from you. God Bless You and keep up the good work.
trav
October 25th, 2012
12:36 am
Do not believe, read, or listen to what critics say about this movie. I was one who proudly said I had never seen a Tyler Perry movie. Madea is not for me, so I wasn’t a fan of his. I wasn’t an Alex Cross fan either. I never read the books or saw Morgan Freeman’s movies. I only saw this movie because of the commercials. This movie did not disappoint me. It is one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. If you like action, suspense, unpredictability, and cold blooded assassins, go see this movie. You won’t be disappointed. I hope they make sequels.
Nigel Hendricks
October 25th, 2012
12:41 pm
Not even Donald Trump will give Tyler Perry a break: http://hollywoodandswine.com/donald-trump-offers-5-million-to-tyler-perry-for-proof-he-can-write-a-good-screenplay/
Who needs Critics?
October 25th, 2012
10:04 pm
I think Perry did a good job. I understand he’s signed on for the next James Patterson film, Double Cross. I’ll look forward to it.
Mr. Morris
October 26th, 2012
2:01 pm
I’m not a Madea fan, but I am a Tyler Perry fan. I can see where he is growing as an actor. It’s just going to be hard for people to stop seeing Madea and start seeing Tyler Perry. And if your a true Patterson fan, it’s hard to see a man who is known for wearing a dress playing Alex Cross. If he wants to be taken serious as an actor he does need to take on more meater roles. I think he did a good job for something that wasn’t one of his movies and I’m glad to see him branch out. If he wants to be taken as a serious actor, he needs to do serious work. Madea will never win an Oscar, but Tyler Perry just might.
MPnDC
October 27th, 2012
10:21 am
No I don’t plan on seeing this. This is something Tyler should have really thought about before accepting. Really….Madea (Action Hero)??? Tyler is typecasting himself in one role and really needs to slowly come out of that, but NOT INITIALLY as an ACTION HERO! MADEA….ACTION HERO…REALLY!