Box Office: 'Madea Family Funeral' Tops Friday With Stellar $9.2M

The film — the final installment in Tyler Perry's popular franchise — is in a close race with 'How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World' for the weekend crown.

Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral opened to a stellar $9.2 million at the Friday box office, enough to bury the competition and putting the film in a close race with holdover How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World for the weekend crown.

Both movies are projected to earn in the $25 million-$26 million range. If it hits the higher number, Family Funeral would mark Perry's fourth best opening of all time as he and Lionsgate bid farewell to the popular Madea franchise, as well as their overall film deal.

Madea Family Funeral, coming in ahead of expectations, is the 11th installment in the cult favorite series that commenced 15 years ago with Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Friday's gross includes $1.1 million in Thursday previews.

In the latest film — which Perry directs, produces and stars in — a joyous family reunion turns into a hilarious nightmare as Madea and the crew travel to backwoods Georgia and unexpectedly have to plan a funeral, which threatens to reveal sordid family secrets. Cassi Davis and Patrice Lovely also star.

Universal and DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon 3 grossed $6.5 million on Friday. The family pic looks to decline 53 percent to 55 percent in its second weekend.

Holding at No. 3 is the troubled James Cameron-produced Alita: Battle Angel. The big-budget film is projected to gross $6.8 million for the weekend. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Chapter is expected to come in No. 4 with $6 million.

Neil Jordan and Focus Features' thriller Greta, starring Isabelle Huppert, Chloe Grace Moretz and Maika Monroe, also opens nationwide this weekend. The film, which made its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto Film Festival, looks to open to a muted $4.7 million.

Greta revolves around a young New York City restaurant hostess whose chance meeting with an older French woman has unforeseen — and creepy — consequences for herself and her roommate.

Jordan's film looks to place No. 5, unless it is beat by Oscar winner Green Book, which expanded its theater count following its best picture victory on Feb. 24. The dramedy, now playing in a total of 2,641 locations, is looking at a spike of more than 110 percent.

A Star Is Born is also being rereleased this weekend with 12 minutes of new footage following Lady Gaga's Oscar win for best original song for "Shallow," while best animated feature victor Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is adding nearly 1,700 runs.

Elsewhere, fans of Imax theaters are being treated to a limited run of the critically acclaimed 2019 Sundance Film Festival documentary Apollo 11. The Neon and CNN Films doc, directed by Todd Douglas Miller, features never-before-seen film footage of NASA’s historic mission to land a man on the moon.

Apollo 11 is on course to earn $1.3 million, a strong showing for a doc. It opens in additional theaters next weekend.