‘Madea’s Family Reunion’ claims top spot at box-office

Los Angeles – Tyler Perry fans reunited at theaters for another tale of mad black women.

“Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion,” a comic drama in which writer-director Perry also stars in three roles, debuted as the weekend’s No. 1 movie with $30.25 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

It was a second gold mine for Lionsgate Films, which also released Perry’s “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” the movie that opened as No. 1 with $21.9 million on the same weekend last year.

Lionsgate hopes to have a third Perry movie out over the same weekend next year, said Steve Rothenberg, the company’s president of distribution.

“It’s a time when we can really dominate the box office,” Rothenberg said. “If we were out at Christmas, we’d be competing with the big holiday and Oscar films, but late February with Black History Month and less competition is a great time period for us.”

This weekend’s other new wide releases flopped. The Weinstein Co. animated tale “Doogal,” a fairy-tale adventure with a voice cast that includes Whoopi Goldberg, Kylie Minogue and Jimmy Fallon, debuted at No. 8 with $3.6 million.

New Line’s crime thriller “Running Scared,” starring Paul Walker as a mobster scrambling to recover a gun used in the slaying of a cop, opened at No. 9 with $3.1 million.

Walker also stars in last weekend’s No. 1 movie, Disney’s dog tale “Eight Below,” which slipped to second place with $15.7 million. “Eight Below” grossed $45.1 million in 10 days.

Though “Madea’s Family Reunion” opened more strongly than “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” the overall weekend box office declined. The top 12 movies took in $99.8 million, down 4.4 percent from the same weekend last year.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released today.

1. “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion,” $30.25 million.

2. “Eight Below,” $15.7 million.

3. “The Pink Panther,” $11.3 million.

4. “Date Movie,” $9.2 million.

5. “Curious George,” $7 million.

6. “Firewall,” $6.3 million.

7. “Final Destination 3,” $5.35 million.

8. “Doogal,” $3.6 million.

9. “Running Scared,” $3.1 million.

10. “Freedomland,” $2.9 million.

‘Sopranos’ creator confirms series will end next year

New York – “The Sopranos” will definitely be taken out next year, the show’s creator said, though he can’t say it won’t hit the big screen at some point.

“It may be that in two or three or four years I could be sitting around and get an idea for a really great ‘Sopranos’ movie,” David Chase told The New York Times in a joint interview with James Gandolfini, star of the HBO series. “I don’t think that will happen. But if one morning somebody woke up and said this would make a really good, concise, contained ‘Sopranos’ story, I wouldn’t rule that out.”

Chase, also the series’ executive producer, and Gandolfini reflected on the show and the trajectory of its central character, mobster Tony Soprano, in an article appearing in Sunday’s editions.

The newest 12-episode season will begin March 12. The Emmy-winning show, which began airing in 1999, is to wrap up with eight episodes starting next January.

Richard Gere fears Asia could be ‘lost’ to AIDS

New York – Richard Gere fears that Asia will be “lost” if the AIDS epidemic hits India hard.

The actor and AIDS activist is traveling to the subcontinent this week along with President Bush. Gere may not agree with Bush on everything, but he “certainly can praise him” for bringing attention to AIDS in India, the actor said on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.

“The president of the United States coming there in a world where he’s seemingly obsessed with terrorism, clearly obsessed with it, and talking about HIV/AIDS in the same breath, in the same paragraph, is extremely important,” Gere said.

Bush has said he hopes to address the AIDS crisis with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“India is a country that I care about deeply,” Gere said. “We’re talking about a population in India that is close to a billion people. If this crisis hits them to the degree it’s expected to, we’ve lost Asia.”

Author admits jail sentence ended his political career

London – Best-selling novelist and former Conservative Party official Jeffrey Archer acknowledged Sunday that his political career was over after he served a two-year jail sentence for perjury.

Archer, former deputy chairman of the main opposition Conservative Party, confirmed in a television interview that he had rejoined a local branch of the party since leaving prison. But he said it was unlikely he would take his place in the House of Lords, Britain’s unelected upper chamber.

“I’m not taking any interest in politics. I’m not involved in politics in any way. My life is in writing now,” Archer told British Broadcasting Corp. television.

Archer left prison in 2003 after serving two years for perjury and obstructing justice. He was convicted of lying during his successful 1987 libel action against Britain’s Daily Star newspaper, which claimed he had hired a prostitute.

A tireless fundraiser for the party, he was honored with a life peerage in 1992. But the Conservatives expelled him in 2000 after he admitted asking a friend to lie for him during the libel suit.

Archer is internationally known as the author of novels including “Kane and Abel” and “First Among Equals.”