MOVIE HOUSE DIVERSITY BLACK ACTORS PULL LARGER CROWDS.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

It was considered something of a box office upset when ``Guess Who,'' a comedy about an interracial romance starring Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher, trounced Sandra Bullock's sequel to ``Miss Congeniality'' to take first place over the Easter weekend.

But it's less of a surprise when you consider that ``Guess,'' which had a $20 million opening, is the fifth 2005 movie starring an African-American to open at the top spot.

It follows fellow box office champs ``Diary of a Mad Black Woman,'' the Will Smith comedy ``Hitch,'' the basketball drama ``Coach Carter'' with Samuel L. Jackson, and Ice Cube's ``Are We There Yet?''

``I think we're talking about this because it's so unusual and unprecedented and exciting,'' said box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. ``It just says that all these No. 1 films have struck a chord with audiences, and, more than anything, it has to do with the universal appeal of most of these movies.''

MGM will attempt to keep the momentum going Wednesday when it opens ``Beauty Shop,'' a comedy starring Queen Latifah with a largely black cast. The movie is a spinoff of sorts of the studio's popular ``Barbershop'' film and its sequel.

``I think there's more savvy on the part of Hollywood in terms of casting and in terms of developing more authentic African-American roles,'' said Howard Buford, chief executive officer of Prime Access Inc. a multicultural advertising agency based in New York City. ``African-Americans, besides being a strong movie-going market, have a very strong desire to see themselves and their lives reflected on screen.''

Three of the films - ``Hitch,'' ``Guess'' and ``Are We There Yet?'' - were released by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The studio pointed out that 55 percent of the opening weekend audience for ``Guess'' was non-Caucasian but also stressed the overall appeal of the films.

``I think what these movies that we released have in common is that they are three broad comedies with stars in them, whether it be Ice Cube, Will Smith or Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher, which is an incredible pairing,'' said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of distribution. ``It sort of transcends color with very accessible stories that audiences love.''

MGM is looking for the same broad audience for ``Beauty Shop,'' which has a cast dominated by black performers but also features Alicia Silverstone, Kevin Bacon, Mena Suvari and Andie McDowell.

``Obviously, (Queen) Latifah is the lead of our picture, but it appeals not only to African-Americans but to women of all races and ages,'' said Eric Lomis, MGM's president of domestic distribution. ``And when you ask the guys, they all like it. That's why we're opening it on a Wednesday, to give word of mouth time to percolate.''

While the studios seek to release movies with widespread appeal, Buford said, the critical key to the success of many of these films lies in appealing to black audiences first and foremost.

``The African-American population is younger overall, and you tend to have larger families, so, per household, there tend to be more people of that prime moviegoing age of up to 25,'' he said. ``They are very strong trendsetters among overall American culture, so these movies also tend to pull in white youth because that culture is their youth culture.''

But the movies still have to be generally good to win the seal of approval, as evidenced by last fall's colossal bomb ``Soul Plane,'' a low-brow comedy loathed by critics and ignored by audiences. Even this week's box office king, Bernie Mac, failed to draw a crowd in October to his Disney baseball comedy, ``Mr. 3000.''

``You still have to have great marketing, you have to have a good cast, and get a lot of press coverage,'' Dergarabedian said. ``All the things that make movies successful apply to these movies, and they attained this success by all these channels. It still comes down to the work. If they had been horribly marketed, terribly acted and had no buzz, they would have failed.''

The critical and commercial success of ``Ray,'' which won the Best Actor Academy Award for Jamie Foxx, further helps the chances for blacks to land leading roles in films ranging from comedy to drama to musicals, said actress Anne-Marie Johnson, national chairwoman of the Screen Actors Guild's Ethnic Employment Opportunity Committee.

``Many of us black performers have been in the business for a while and never really believed the statement that African-Americans could not do well globally,'' said Johnson, whose next film, ``The L.A. Riots,'' will premiere next month at the Tribeca Film Festival.

``I think we've proven that was definitely a myth, generally. Our argument has been that a good story will play well, regardless of race, and I think that's been proven, especially with the current films.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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