‘Meet the Browns’ could get Easter edge from churchgoers

Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse uses just a pinch of cloves in the marinade for his Cajun deep-fried turkey. Ace pitcher Johan Santana fires his fastball at 94 mph, but he can fool batters into lunging haplessly at his 77-mph change-up.

Media mogul Tyler Perry also understands the value of holding back.

The independent filmmaker, who stunned Hollywood in 2005 with his first hit, “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” starring himself in drag as the loud and proud Madea, has been careful not to saturate the market with his signature character.

To the dismay of some fans, the pistol-packing, smack-talking grandma was not part of Perry’s last two movies, but her return in “Meet the Browns” should help the Lions Gate Films release open the strongest of three major movies coming out today for Easter weekend.

“You don’t want to give people too much of a good thing,” Perry said from Atlanta, where he is filming his next feature. The 38-year-old writer-producer-director-actor, who put out two movies in 2007 and plans another movie this year, said he wrote Madea into the last part of “Meet the Browns” mainly to tease the next feature focusing on the character, “Madea Goes to Jail,” scheduled for 2009.

Consumer tracking surveys indicate “Meet the Browns” should open to at least $20 million -- a mark reached by three of Perry’s first four films.

Hollywood executives aren’t expecting the PG-13 movie to become his fourth No. 1 opener, however, because of 20th Century Fox’s holdover hit “Horton Hears a Who!”

The computer-animated, G-rated Dr. Seuss adaptation, which has drawn big crowds all week, could haul in $30 million with a slim drop from last weekend’s debut, especially with Good Friday being a holiday for many families.

Yet Perry’s movies typically outperform the tracking surveys, and the hunch here is that another surprise is in store, thanks to the filmmaker’s fervent following among churchgoers and African American women. That could put “Meet the Browns” neck-and-neck with “Horton” atop the charts, maybe even give Perry another No. 1 movie if his fans turn out in force.

Perry’s only picture that could be construed as a box-office disappointment, “Daddy’s Little Girls,” was the one in which he was conspicuously absent as an actor.

Lions Gate, which under a long-term deal with Perry finances and markets his productions and then recoups its costs before sharing proceeds with the workaholic, says that even a $20-million opening weekend would portend a hefty profit on the picture. “Meet the Browns” was made for less than $10 million, Perry said.

Although Perry’s pictures have done well in domestic theaters and on DVD, they have been given virtually no distribution overseas, a source of frustration for the filmmaker.

Hollywood thinking has long held that black-themed movies won’t travel, but Perry noted that recent comedies “Big Momma’s House 2,” starring Martin Lawrence, and “Norbit,” with Eddie Murphy, grossed more than $60 million apiece outside the U.S.

Perry said that although he likes Lions Gate as a partner, he hopes to soon strike a foreign distribution deal with a larger studio that could help him tap other markets.

In marketing “Meet the Browns,” Lions Gate has walked a fine line with the Madea character, tempting audiences without overpromising. She is a clear selling point but also a secondary element in posters, billboards and trailers.

The movie stars Angela Bassett as a single mother from Chicago who takes her family to the funeral of her father, a man she never knew, in Georgia, where she meets the cantankerous Brown clan.

It also features David Mann, Jenifer Lewis and former basketball star Rick Fox along with Perry, who plays both Madea and her brother, Uncle Joe. The story explores the filmmaker’s favored themes, including faith, redemption and romance.

“There are two brands at work: the Madea brand and the Tyler Perry movie brand that people know from ‘Why Did I Get Married?’ and ‘Daddy’s Little Girls,’ ” said the filmmaker, who attaches his own name to each of his movie titles.

With such a prolific output, including stage plays, TV shows and books as well as five movies in three years, could Perry be overexposing his own brand?

This weekend’s results could indicate otherwise, but this Projector doesn’t see that happening yet because Perry remains a fresh phenomenon for audiences neglected by Hollywood.

Today’s wide releases also include Paramount Pictures’ comedy “Drillbit Taylor,” starring Owen Wilson as a “budget bodyguard” for a trio of nerdy high school freshmen, and New Regency Pictures’ thriller “Shutter,” distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Both PG-13 movies are aimed at teenagers, though at different “psychographics,” as the marketers say. Both are expected to open in the $8-million-to-$12-million range.

“Drillbit,” made for less than $35 million, is the first of four comedies coming out this year from the factory of producer Judd Apatow.

“Shutter,” produced for less than $10 million, is the latest remake of an Asian horror movie, this one focusing on the paranormal concept known as spirit photography.

“Drillbit” will also draw preteens, and “Shutter” could skew older and lure more young adults.

Weinstein Co. and Fox Searchlight Pictures have high hopes for “Under the Same Moon,” which they bought in partnership at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival for $5 million.

The immigration drama came out Wednesday at 266 theaters, mainly in Latino and art-house markets, in an effort to build word of mouth.

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josh.friedman@latimes.com

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Weekend Forecast

“Horton Hears a Who!” is widely expected to top the box office once again, although Tyler Perry’s “Meet the Browns” could pull off a surprise. These figures are The Times’ projections only. Studios will release weekend estimates Sunday and final totals Monday.

*--* Rank Movie 3-day prediction Through the Weeks -- (studio) (millions) weekend 1 Horton Hears a Who! $30.0 $90.1 2 -- (20th Century Fox) 2 Meet the Browns 29.0 29.0 1 -- (Lions Gate) 3 Drillbit Taylor 11.5 11.5 1 -- (Paramount) 4 Shutter 9.5 9.5 1 -- (20th Century Fox) 5 10,000 BC 8.5 75.5 3 -- (Warner Bros.) 6 Never Back Down 4.5 16.2 2 -- (Summit) 7 College Road Trip 4.0 31.0 3 -- (Disney) 8 The Bank Job 4.0 19.2 3 -- (Lions Gate) 9 Vantage Point 3.5 64.8 5 -- (Sony) 10 Doomsday 2.5 9.2 2 -- (Universal) *--*

Source: Times research