'Diary of a Mad Black Woman,' a low budget African-American comedy that almost flew under the radar with regard to expectations surprised Hollywood experts this weekend by winning the box office this weekend. The film, written and produced by Tyler Perry, took in an estimated $22.7 million in this its opening weekend of release.

Will Smith's romantic comedy 'Hitch' fell to second place after two weeks in the top spot. 'Hitch' earned $21 million this weekend while third place went to Keeanu Reeves in 'Constantine' with an $11.8 million estimated box office.

The horror film, 'Cursed,' starring Christina Ricci ended up in fourth place, earning $9.6 million with 'The Man of the House' with Tommy Lee Jones taking fifth place with $9 million.

Among Oscar contenders for best picture, 'Million Dollar Baby' slipped to number six on the week with $7.2 million while 'The Aviator' was in ninth place with a $3.9 million weekend.

The other films in the top 10 were 'Because of Winn-Dixie which took seventh place with $6.8 million, 'Are We There Yet?' which finished eighth with an estimated $4 million and 'Son of the Mask' which rounded out the top 10 by earning $3.8 million.