Tyler Perry’s Madea character has appeared in dozens of films, plays, and television appearances. But in 2019, exactly 20 years after audiences first met the tough-talking grandmother, Perry is taking off the makeup and wig once and for all.
Spanning 10 installments, the Madea film franchise has earned more than $500 million worldwide. Madea was first introduced in Perry’s 1999 play I Can Do Bad All By Myself. He has said she was based on his own mother, as well as Eddie Murphy’s performance in The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps. The character is known to use comical and vulgar language, and has a litany of criminal offenses, which was especially highlighted in 2009’s Madea Goes to Jail.
A Madea Family Funeral, in theaters March 2019, is the final Madea movie.
“I’m happy to kill that old bitch, I’m tired, man,” Perry said on Bevy Smith’s SiriusXM show Bevelations on Monday. “I just don’t want to be her age, playing her.”
Perry said that his team finished shooting A Madea Family Funeral two years ago, but wanted to stagger its release following 2016 and 2017’s Madea Halloween films. Perry also wanted to focus on other projects like Acrimony, released earlier this year, and Nobody’s Fool, in theaters November 2. Both movies were written and directed by Perry.
Tyler Perry To Retire Madea Character.
