Tyler Perry has managed to beat the star power of Hollywood heavyweight Tom Cruise at the box office.
The star’s Boo! A Madea Halloween opened in the top spot in America with an estimated $27.6 million (£22.5 million), edging Tom’s Jack Reacher: Never Go Back into second place.
It’s the third best opening for a Madea movie, behind Madea Goes To Jail and Madea’s Family Reunion, and a sign of the character’s longstanding appeal to audiences.
Meanwhile, Tom’s film took in $23 million (£18.8 million) for Paramount Pictures.
It’s a far cry from the actor’s successes with the Mission: Impossible movies, but it did do significantly better than the first Jack Reacher, which opened right before Christmas in 2012 to $15.2 million (£12.4 million).
Coming in third this weekend was the horror prequel Ouija: Origin Of Evil.
