When diary of a mad black Woman debuted last February, Hollywood deemed it dead on arrival. Made for $5 million, it had a black cast with no superstars and a comic, faith-filled story of a spurned woman's search for redemption. "Stay clear of this mess," a New York Post critic warned. Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times: "I've been reviewing movies for a long time, and I can't think of one that more dramatically shoots itself in the foot." Yet in its opening weekend Diary was number one at the box office, bringing in $22 million, besting superstar Will Smith's hit Hitch and doubling the take of the $100 million film Constantine. Diary went on to gross $50 million in theaters; the DVD sold 2.4 million copies its first week.
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