Perry, Lionsgate plan fifth Madea feature

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Tyler Perry will portray Madea and Uncle Joe in "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns," the multihyphenate's fifth film for Lionsgate and fourth as director.

The story, adapted by Perry from his stage play "Meet the Browns," centers on a single mother living in Chicago who takes her family to Georgia for the funeral of her father, whom she never met. There, she's introduced to the Browns, her father's fun-loving, crass Southern clan.

The film is slated for release in early 2008.

"Diary of a Mad Black Woman," Perry's first big-screen adaptation of his stage work, which he wrote and starred in, became an unexpected box-office success, opening at No. 1 and going on to gross more than $50 million. A year later, in February 2006, his feature directorial debut, "Madea's Family Reunion," also grabbed the top box-office slot when it bowed.

Perry's sitcom "House of Payne," which is being distributed in first-run syndication by Lionsgate's wholly owned Debmar-Mercury subsidiary, debuted Wednesday on TBS. His fourth Lionsgate feature, "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?," is slated for a November 16 release.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter