Tyler Perry’s ‘A Madea Homecoming’ to premiere on Netflix this February
This is the twelfth film in Perry's Madea film franchise, dating back to 2005's 'Diary of a Mad Black Woman.'
Just when you thought Madea was gone, she’s back. Tyler Perry is shaking the dust off of his gun-toting, no-nonsense matriarchal character whom he portrays, for another film go-round, called A Madea Homecoming, and it will premiere on Netflix on February 25.
Perry teased the news with a Twitter post of Madea’s face superimposed over the Beyoncé Homecoming Coachella concert cover. “HOMEGOING! Live from her backyard,” Perry wrote on Tuesday. “I want to thank my incredible Moth-hive. MA-Chella. NETFLIX. COMING SOON.”
News of Perry bringing his Mabel “Madea” Simmons back for Homecoming was first announced last July when the media mogul stated that the film was slated for a 2022 release, as theGrio reported.
This came as a surprise after Perry stated back in 2019 that he was retiring the Madea character after the film A Madea Family Funeral.
Be that as it may, Perry decided to take Madea out of retirement to give viewers a much-needed injection of humor during these divisive and dangerous times.
“I was looking at the state of the world and how polarized it is… nobody’s laughing,” Perry recently told Entertainment Weekly. “Nobody’s getting the chance to belly-laugh anymore. And I’m like, ‘What tool do I have in my arsenal that can bring that kind of laughter?'”
Madea isn’t the only one returning. Coming back to A Madea Homecoming are a group of Perry’s film and television mainstays including Tamela J. Mann, who plays Madea’s daughter Cora, David Mann, who plays Madea’s rambunctious neighbor Mr. Brown, and Cassi Davis, as Madea’s cousin Aunt Bam.
Also cast in the film are Brandon Black (Tim), Isha Blaaker (Davi), and Irish actor Brendan O’Carroll, who makes a special appearance.
The plot of A Madea Homecoming, which Perry writes and directs, will include an LGBTQ+ storyline woven in. Perry says that he added that element to the script to bring more attention to the prejudice that that community goes through and the people who are subject to harm and discrimination toward them.
“How long does it have to be before you understand something?” said Perry. “Even if you don’t understand, be open… I just think that if everything gets accepted in love, then you get a chance to see the person for who they are rather than what you think they are.”
This will be the twelfth film in the Madea franchise. The first was 2005’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman. The character made her first appearance in Perry’s 1999 stage play, I Can Do Bad All by Myself, which, like Diary, was developed into a feature film in 2009.
Other Madea stage plays that were converted for the big screen include Madea’s Family Reunion, Madea Goes to Jail, A Madea Christmas, and Madea’s Big Happy Family. The Manns also starred in the Madea spin-off, Meet the Browns, which was a stage play, film, and television series.
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