Just when you thought that Eddie Murphy's "Norbit" was going to tank at the box office:

Eddie Murphy's latest comic creation, the forbidding big mama Rasputia, faced off against the young Hannibal Lecter at the North American boxoffice this past weekend and easily squashed the young serial killer.

"Norbit," a comedy directed by Brian Robbins in which Murphy, with lots of latex and costuming, plays three roles, grabbed $34.2 million as it set up shop in 3,136 theaters and collected a resounding $10,904 per theater. The PG-13-rated movie, a DreamWorks production released by Paramount Pictures, was Murphy"s 14th No. 1 opener and his second-biggest opening ever for a live-action film. Setting aside the "Shrek" animated movies, in which he voices the character of Donkey, Murphy's best live-action opening remains 2000's "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps," which bowed to $42.5 million. "Norbit" was still several notches above Murphy's last comic outing, 2003's "The Haunted Mansion," which debuted to $24.3 million.

While "Norbit" belongs in a different movie universe than the current musical "Dreamgirls," for which Murphy earned the respect of his peers in the form of an Academy Award nomination, it still appealed to many of his fans. Moviegoers surveyed by CinemaScore awarded the film an overall grade of B, with moviegoers under 18, which made up 28% of the sampling, the most enthusiastic as they graded it B+.

Wow! An amazing $34.2 million to score the top spot. Goes to prove that fat suits equal box office gold. Big Momma’s House 1 and 2, Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion and The Nutty Professor all opened above $20 million.

So all you gotta do is put on a fat suit and you’ll be guaranteed a winner!