Local flick tops box office for 2011

Friday, December 23, 2011

THE Chris Browne-directed Jamaican urban action drama, Ghett'A Life, was the most popular film for Jamaican movie goers during 2011.

The film which stars Christopher McFarlane, Kevoy Burton, Winston Bell, Carl Davis and Lisa Williams, topped Palace Amusement Company's list of movies for the year, running a total of 10 weeks on screens throughout the company's circuit of cinemas.

The all-Jamaican cast and crew film with its against-all-odds story of a young, aspiring boxer who must overcome the obstacles of tribal politics in order to achieve his dreams, was a hit with the local audience.

However, even before the first frame was shot, Ghett'A Life was already receiving accolades. Director Browne earned a screenplay prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France for this work.

Ghett'A Life follows the tradition of other Jamaican films including The Harder They Come, Dancehall Queen, Third World Cop and Betta Mus' Come, which have all topped, or received impressive viewership in the respective years of their release.

The third edition of the cartoon series turned film franchise Transformers, and this year's Fast & Furious ties for second place, both funning for seven weeks

Tyler Perry's popular character Madea made her way to Palace Amusement's top 10 films this year. Madea's Big Happy Family ran for a total of five weeks. The American comedy The Hangover 2 starring Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms also ran for five weeks at the cinemas

A number of films had month-long runs at local cinemas. These were the horror flick Twilight: Breaking Dawn, which is still still running on the circuit, and therefore could even climb higher in the ranking over the remaining weeks of 2011; Pirates of the Caribbean 4, which had a Jamaican interest as beauty queen and model Sanya Hughes was cast as a mermaid in this installment; the fantasy-filled novels turned film series Harry Potter and Death Hall.

The latest in the X-Men series — X-Men: First Class — and the action flick Colombiana starring Zoe Saldana, who made her name in the 2009's bllockbuster Avatar, round out the year's top flicks, also ran for four weeks.

Palace Amusement Company notes that James Cameron's 1998 epic, Titanic, holds the record at its cinemas, running for a total of 24 weeks. Of the local films, the cult classic Dancehall Queen holds the top spot as it ran for 16 weeks when it opened in 1997. Storm Saulter's Betta Mus' Come ran for 14 weeks in 2010, while Third World Cop, which was also directed by Chris Browne had a 12-week run when it opened in 1999.