A year after making it big with his first film, playwright Tyler Perry has brought Madea back to the top of the box office.

Reuters reports that Madea’s Family Reunion, which Perry wrote, directed and starred in, debuted at $30.3 million, almost double what Eight Below made in the same weekend. The comedy is about a formidable grandma, played by Perry, and her crazy family. Maya Angelou and Blair Underwood also star.

Although Perry’s Madea shows play to sold-out audiences practically everywhere in the States, nobody expected Diary of a Mad Black Woman to open at #1 last February. Diary made $50 million on a budget of $5.5 million, and also raked in plenty on home video.

E!Online says that Reunion is different from Diary because the sequel is appealing to a wider, more racially diverse audience. In an official press release, Perry said, “I believe that my films and stage plays have universal themes and characters that can appeal to a broad spectrum of audiences.”

Meanwhile, The Pink Panther held steady at #3. The other two new wide releases, Doogal and Running Scared, fell off the radar at #8 and #9, respectively.






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