Tyler Perry has another hit on his hands with “Boo! A Madea Halloween,” the sequel in which he stars and also wrote and directed.
The comedy, featuring his famous grandmotherly character battling ghosts, topped the weekend box office with a whopping $27.6 million — the third highest grossing debut of the “Madea” series.
The movie had enough momentum to unseat Paramount’s Tom Cruise vehicle, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,” which was originally predicted to be the No. 1 movie this weekend.
Perry discussed the film’s success with TheWrap on Sunday:
TheWrap: It looks like you have another “Madea” hit on your hands. How do you feel right now? Tyler Perry: I’m having a pretty good day. After all these years to see that the audience is still showing up and have new audiences coming, it’s very exciting. What I’ve found is that kids can become an expert on you in two weeks now by binge watching all of your stuff. That was an option we didn’t have in my generation, so it’s great to see.
The idea, in fact, the literal title of this film comes from Chris Rock‘s 2014 dramedy “Top Five.” Does Rock get a writer’s credit or a check? There’s no payment and there’s no writer’s credit, but I have been looking for his number all morning, so I’m going to give him a call tomorrow to say just how much I appreciate the inspiration of it.
Critics don’t typically give “Madea” movies high marks, and this one has a 29 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Do you have anything to say to the critics right now? Nope.
Why do you think Madea endures as such a popular character? People love this type of grandmother. She’s still around. It’s been 18 years and to see people still coming, it’s very moving to me still because I certainly didn’t think I would do it this long. To see it’s still working, I’m very happy about that.
This time Madea is reaching further beyond the black community, attracting a more diverse audience. How do you think that has happened? It’s been happening organically over the years. When I’m live on stage [performing as Madea], the audience is very mixed. It’s 50/50 with white people and African Americans — it just depends on what city I’m in. Very specifically the social media influencers [who were cast in “Boo! A Madea Halloween”] absolutely attracted a diverse audience. I wanted to put them in this movie and the message to be for younger people, 13 and up. Using them, I think, was a good idea because I think Hollywood now knows their followings transfer from the internet to them. Take Yousef Erakat, who is very talented, popular and has millions of subscribers. Tons of people showed up for him and Lexy Panterra, Brock O’Hurn, Kian Lawley and Jc Caylen.
What would you say to people who have never seen a “Madea” movie?
I would like them to check it out to see if it’s their cup of tea. If you enjoyed “Mama’s Family,” then this is for you. The Professor Clumps, Eddie Murphy in the “Nutty Professor,” then this kind of movie is for you.
How much of this weekend’s box office boost do you attribute to the Jimmy Fallon “Tonight Show” skit that went viral?
I think it’s all a part of it. Jimmy was really gracious in making that happen. When I was there a few months ago he said he would make it happen. It’s more than one thing that got it all done.
The skit was so funny, I was crying I was laughing so hard. In that case, I have to thank Trump, too. Yup.
From the skit we learned Madea is a Clinton supporter. Which candidate are you backing? First of all, Madea can’t vote because she’s a felon. But I will be voting for Hillary.
What will we see next from Madea? I’m not working on a sequel to this particular movie, but I am working on something that will have more international appeal. Brendan O’Carroll who does a character called Mrs. Brown, which is huge in Europe. I’m working very closely with him. I’m putting a movie together for the two of us — Mrs. Brown and Madea.
When all is said and done how many Madea movies do you think there’ll be? I’ve said this many times and I’ll say it again: The minute the audience stops coming that old broad is dead. But every time I say it they show up. So, as long as they want her to, she’ll be around. But I’m determined not to be her age playing her. I’m just really grateful the audience showed up. My audience is like the country music audience — they’re so loyal, so faithful, and as always, I’m grateful to them.
All 11 Tyler Perry Madea Movies Ranked From Worst to Best (Photos)
Tyler Perry’s famous character Madea has appeared in nearly half of his films: a gun-toting, “Hallelu-yer”-shouting force of nature, and an outrageous drag tribute to his mother and aunt. But some movies in the Madea Cinematic Universe are gleefully manic, while others arrive in what appears to be a half-finished state of sad melodrama and mediocrity. Not counting her cameo in “Meet the Browns," or "Madea’s Tough Love," here's our favorite Madea mayhem:
11. "Madea's Witness Protection" (2012)
This was the second-highest-grossing Madea movie to date, but it came along at a time when Perry was making minor noise about retiring the character, and it shows. The film looks cheap even by Perry’s budget-minded standards, the jokes are flat, and the director appears tired of the role, having almost no comic rapport with co-star Eugene Levy.
Lionsgate
10. "Madea's Family Reunion" (2006)
The follow-up to Madea’s debut in “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” this movie proves that less Madea screen time means less entertainment. A dramatic abusive-fiancé storyline dominates the film, as do side characters’ preparations for a wedding and family reunion. Madea’s presence is limited to dispensing homespun wisdom to young Keke Palmer, a now-infamous line about shooting Tupac for a parking space, and the delivery of Oprah Winfrey’s “All my life I had to fight…” speech from “The Color Purple."
Lionsgate
9. "Boo 2! A Madea Halloween" (2017)
The first one made money, so Madea gets to be scared stupid all over again in a sequel so sluggish and haphazardly thrown together that it makes the first one seem like classic comedy by comparison. Madea spends most of the film sitting in a Cadillac and having her most florid swears awkwardly dubbed into softer versions.
Chip Bergman/Lionsgate
8. "A Madea Family Funeral" (2019)
Perry says this is the last Madea movie, and maybe it's time if this inert effort is all he can muster for his signature comic creation. Madea tends to do a lot of sitting around in this one -- a dramedy about infidelity and sudden death -- mocking the stupidity of those around her or dispensing old-fashioned life advice. Missing is her trademark wildness, her willingness to ignore all social convention and sense of decency, replaced by sedentary -- but often still quite funny -- one-liners. Come back when you're feeling it again, Madea.
7. "I Can Do Bad All By Myself" (2009)
The ratio of Madea to melodrama is sadly unbalanced in this near-musical about a troubled nightclub singer (Taraji P. Henson) and her struggle to get by, all while having to deal with caring for her recently orphaned niece and nephews. Madea drops into odd moments here and there for comic relief, but the real reasons to watch are Henson’s moving performance and Mary J. Blige showing up to knock the title song out of the park.
Lionsgate
6. "Boo! A Madea Halloween" (2016)
Chris Rock delivered a readymade name for this dare of a movie in “Top Five”; otherwise it would rightly be called “Madea Scared Stupid.” This time around, she chases her nephew’s rebellious teenage daughter from a fraternity Halloween party to a fake haunted house, battling a gauntlet of zombies, trendy murder-clowns, idiotic frat boys, and slasher movie set-ups. Our heroine tumbles extravagantly down staircases, babbles incoherently, and twerks to a Tyga track. In other words, it delivers pretty much what you expected when you bought a ticket.
Lionsgate
5. "A Madea Christmas" (2013)
Christmas needs saving, and it’s Madea to the rescue. Why it needs saving is irrelevant, but it involves a mean corporation, Larry the Cable Guy, and Lisa Whelchel from “The Facts of Life.” The solution involves Madea donning a Mrs. Claus outfit and laying waste to everyone who gets in the way of her Wonderful Life. She fights the KKK, ties up a misbehaving child with Christmas lights, and calls at least one person a “Satanic loudmouth diarrhea woman,” before going full-on anti-Linus and recounting a bizarrely backward Nativity story. Christmas crisis averted with antics, bringing much-needed chaos to a character whose energy seemed to be flagging.
Lionsgate
4. "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" (2005)
Perry introduced Madea to film audiences with a chainsaw, a “Mommie Dearest” gag about wire hangers, and a heavy dose of Bugs Bunny–style chaos, all in the strange service of an otherwise serious melodrama about marital discord and domestic abuse. When Madea’s tormented granddaughter (Kimberly Elise) winds up on her doorstep after fleeing a horrible husband, Madea helps the young woman with wild advice and a maniac’s zeal for destructive revenge. At one point, co-star Cicely Tyson admonishes Madea: “God takes care of folks better than you can,” to which Madea responds, “God takes too long.”
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3. "Madea Goes to Jail" (2009)
Madea’s criminal history involves a litany of charges including identity theft, insurance fraud, and attempted murder. This time around she defies court-ordered anger management (with Dr. Phil) and mocks her daughter Cora’s peaceful faith in Jesus. Landing in prison after destroying a racist woman’s car, she befriends serial killer Sofia Vergara, battles a predatory inmate, and gets released on a technicality, dancing out of the joint. The highest-grossing Madea film, and the one in which she’s almost conscience-free, as close to pure id as a human being can be without transforming into a cartoon Tasmanian Devil.
Lionsgate
2. "Madea's Big Happy Family" (2011)
The perfect combination of family dysfunction (featuring a solidly moving performance from Loretta Devine as a cancer-stricken mother) and a barnstorming Madea. The matriarch comes on like a tornado as she destroys a fast-food restaurant with both her car and her body, freestyle-lectures Christians on the “prescriptures” in the Bible, handily insults every person who crosses her path, and nearly meets her match when sparring with the wild and wicked Teyana Taylor.
Lionsgate
1. "A Madea Homecoming" (2022)
After years of working within the constraints of the PG-13 rating, the profane side of Madea triumphs, waving a gun, and dispensing edibles from her purse. A family reunion involving her great-grandson's college graduation -- one that brings the usual dose of family conflict, wisely solved by Madea in a late-narrative moment of lucidity -- turns this ensemble comedy into the funniest and best-directed Tyler Perry film since "Madea's Big Happy Family." A welcome -- and wild -- flashback sequence involving young Madea and an end credits mini-documentary crank up the chaos.
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Where does ”A Madea Homecoming“ rank in the Madea Cinematic Universe?
Tyler Perry’s famous character Madea has appeared in nearly half of his films: a gun-toting, “Hallelu-yer”-shouting force of nature, and an outrageous drag tribute to his mother and aunt. But some movies in the Madea Cinematic Universe are gleefully manic, while others arrive in what appears to be a half-finished state of sad melodrama and mediocrity. Not counting her cameo in “Meet the Browns," or "Madea’s Tough Love," here's our favorite Madea mayhem:
Lionsgate
