Lionsgate signs Tyler Perry to a new three-year deal

LOS ANGELES — Lionsgate has renewed its movie and home entertainment agreement with its most prolific supplier, filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry.

The new contract keeps Perry, whose films such as “Madea Goes to Jail” and “Why Did I Get Married?” are hugely popular with African-American women, in business with the Santa Monica, Calif., studio for three more years.

Over the last six years, Lionsgate has released 10
movies produced by Perry. Since his debut in 2005 with “Diary of a Mad
Black Woman,” Perry’s films have grossed an average of $52 million domestically, although they typically take in very little overseas.

Perry’s next release, “Madea’s Big Happy Family,” opens April 22. That will be followed by “We the Peeples,” which he produced but didn’t direct or star in. It doesn’t yet have a release date.

Lionsgate said that the new deal will include two
additional movies starring his signature character Madea, an outspoken
African-American grandmother from the South played by Perry in drag.
The Madea movies have been Perry’s most financially successful,
particularly 2009’s “Madea Goes to Jail,” which grossed $90 million domestically.

The deal also gives Lionsgate the option to release
other movies directed, written by, produced by or starring Perry. It
also continues an arrangement under which the studio releases DVDs of
his stage plays and other material.

Perry’s low-cost movies have been consistently
successful. His most recent release, “For Colored Girls,” an adaptation
of a play that Perry directed but did not appear in, was one of his
worst performers, taking in $37.7 million at the box office.

Atlanta-based
Perry makes his movies with total creative control and keeps half the
profits in one of the most filmmaker-friendly deals in Hollywood,
according to people familiar with the matter. That’s because he brings
Lionsgate a devoted fan base that consistently shows up to see his
movies on opening weekend.

The extended arrangement does not include Perry’s
television works. He is the creator and executive producer of the TV
sitcoms “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne,” which are distributed
by Lionsgate subsidiary Debmar-Mercury and air on TBS. “House of Payne”
is already in syndication, and “Meet the Browns” will soon follow.

“Lionsgate and I have built the ideal
filmmaker/studio relationship, and I’m thrilled that it will be
continuing,” Perry said in a statement. “More importantly, Lionsgate
has been incredibly affirming of my relationship with my audience —
I’ve always had the artistic freedom to speak what I want, how I want,
and when I want through my films.”

Said Lionsgate Chief Executive Jon Feltheimer:
“Lionsgate and Tyler have grown together for many years, and we look
forward to pushing the envelopes of our businesses together for many
years to come.”

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