Tyler Perry reprises his cross-dressing Madea character, and once again his loyal fans have lined up to buy tickets.

The latest in Perry's comedic franchise, "I Can Do Bad All By Myself," earned $24 million its opening weekend, according to estimates released by studio trackers Nielsen EDI. In the film, Madea (Perry) takes matters into her own hands after catching three youngsters attempting to rob her home.

"I Can Do Bad All By Myself" is the second box office winner for Perry this year alone. In February he released another chapter in his Madea chronicles, "Madea Goes to Jail." That effort raked in more than $41 million in its opening weekend and went on to gross more than $90 million during its nine-week run in U.S. theaters.

Perry stood far afield of second-placer "9," the PG-13 animated film produced by Tim Burton. The tale takes place in a post-apocalyptic land that is almost entirely deserted save for a killing machine and a few ragdolls. Elijah Wood voices the title character, #9. The film reaped $10.9 million over the weekend and $15.3 million since its debut on Wednesday, September 9 (09-09-09).

Holding onto third place was Quentin Tarantino’s Nazi revenge fantasy "Inglourious Basterds," which grabbed another $6.5 million this weekend for a four-week total of $104.3 million. Sandra Bullock’s romantic comedy "All About Steve" dropped to fourth place with $5.8 million, followed by "The Final Destination" with $5.5 million. Final figures will be released on Monday.