Taraji P. Henson and Tika Sumpter Join Newest Tyler Perry Project (EXCLUSIVE)

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〉The story details for the upcoming comedy-drama are being kept under wraps.

Empire star Taraji P. Henson and Southside with You’s Tika Sumpter have joined a brand new UNTITLED TYLER PERRY PROJECT. The prolific Tyler Perry will produce, write, and direct the film, ultimately his eighteenth feature as director, following Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween, which will be released in October.

Though there are no story or plot details available at this time, given Perry’s track record and the multitude of projects he’s worked on, both in the film and television spheres, fans will likely have an idea of what to expect. It is also unknown if this will be another entry into the growing and expansive Madea franchise, which currently has eight films, with the aforementioned Halloween flick being the ninth. However, Perry has created several other films not in the Madea franchise such as Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls and Tyler Perry’s The Single Moms Club.

Along with Perry, Mark Swinton and Ozzie and Will Areu are set to produce the project. They have all worked with Perry multiple times before. Ozzie Areu is also the president of The Tyler Perry Company.

Recently, Henson and Sumpter have been receiving critical praise. Just this year, Henson won a Golden Globe for her role as Cookie Lyon and there is plenty of buzz about her upcoming film Hidden Figures, which also stars Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae. Coming up, she’ll appear in the biopic Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? as well as The Best of Enemies, Robin Bissell’s directorial debut.

Sumpter, meanwhile, just appeared as Michelle Robinson, current First Lady, in Southside with You and has also appeared in the films Get On Up and Think Like a Man. She can also be seen in OWN’s The Haves and the Have Nots. Both she and Henson have worked with Perry before, Sumpter in Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas and Henson in Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All by Myself as well as Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys.

The last film Perry directed and released was Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Neighbors from Hell and in the last couple of years, he’s appeared as an actor in the films Gone Girl and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.  He is best known for his family-based comedies, both in the Madea franchise and not.

Henson is repped by UTA and Vincent Cirrincione & Associates.
Sumpter is repped by WME and Brookside Artist Management.
Perry is repped by WME.

—TO SEE ALL THE PROJECT DETAILS CLICK HERE—

Anya Crittenton | Associate Editor