Tyler Perry Movies and TV Shows: Full List of Films and Series

Tyler Perry built one of the most prolific entertainment empires in modern American media — and he did it his own way. From rowdy stage plays that packed theaters to Netflix exclusives and BET series that dominate cable ratings, Perry has spent decades making content that speaks directly to audiences studios often overlook.

Net Worth: $1.4 billion · Notable Films: Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Gone Girl · Key Productions: Sistas, Bruh, All The Queen’s Men · Longest Project: A Jazzman’s Blues (27 years) · Iconic Character: Madea

The table below consolidates key facts about Perry’s career milestones and production details.

What is Tyler Perry most known for?

Ask most people what they know about Tyler Perry and one name comes up first: Madea. Perry created and has performed as Mabel “Madea” Simmons since the early 2000s — a loud, chain-smoking grandmother who dispenses wisdom and chaos in equal measure. The character originated from his stage plays, which later became films distributed by Lionsgate (Lionsgate official franchise page).

Madea franchise origins

The Madea character first appeared in I Can Do Bad All By Myself, a stage play performed in 1999. Perry wrote, directed, and starred as Madea, playing the tough elderly woman who takes in troubled relatives. The plays were a phenomenon in Black communities — word spread through churches and community centers before social media existed in its current form. Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005) brought Madea to the big screen and grossed over $50 million domestically, proving the stage-to-film pipeline worked (Wikipedia biography).

Shift to Hollywood films

Perry didn’t stop at Madea. He expanded into directing and producing films outside his own franchise, including Precious (2009), which earned Academy Award nominations and holds a 92% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes — the highest-rated project associated with Perry (Rotten Tomatoes profile). He also appeared in mainstream Hollywood films like Star Trek (2009), Alex Cross (2012), and Gone Girl (2014), which scored 88% with critics (Wikipedia filmography). Voice acting credits include The Star (2017) and Paw Patrol: The Movie (2021) (Wikipedia acting credits).

Tyler Perry Movies & TV Shows List

Three decades of output, five major film franchises, and a TV slate that spans cable and streaming. Here’s how it breaks down.

Films like Diary of a Mad Black Woman

The Madea film series runs from Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005) through A Madea Family Funeral (2019), with titles including Madea’s Family Reunion (2006), Madea Goes to Jail (2009), Madea’s Witness Protection (2012), and Big Happy Family (2011). Perry retired the character after the 2019 film, but Netflix brought her back for A Madea Homecoming on February 26, 2022 (BET press release), which marked the first Madea film on the streaming platform (BET announcement).

• Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
• Madea’s Family Reunion (2006)
• Madea Goes to Jail (2009)
• Big Happy Family (2011)
• Madea’s Witness Protection (2012)
• A Madea Family Funeral (2019)
• A Madea Homecoming (2022)
• The Six Triple Eight (recent)
• Divorce in the Black (recent)

TV series including Sistas

Perry’s TV presence is dominated by his BET partnership starting in 2019, but his cable history runs deeper. House of Payne aired on TBS from 2007–2012, The Haves and Have Nots launched on OWN in 2013, and The Paynes joined OWN/BET in 2018 (Rotten Tomatoes TV history). The current BET roster includes Sistas (2019–present), The Oval (2019–present), Bruh, All The Queen’s Men, and Assisted Living (Tyler Perry Studios production archive).

What is Tyler Perry’s most famous show?

The answer depends on which metric you’re using — raw ratings, cultural penetration, or longevity. Sistas draws strong numbers on BET, but The Haves and Have Nots defined the early Perry-on-OWN era.

Top ranked by Yahoo

Searches for “Tyler Perry most famous show” frequently return Sistas and The Haves and Have Nots. Yahoo-ranked lists typically place The Haves and Have Nots higher for cultural impact, given its 2013 start and dramatic storylines about class and family secrets. Sistas, however, has the advantage of being newer and actively promoted on BET’s current schedule (Rotten Tomatoes).

BET series like Bruh

Bruh fills a specific niche — ensemble male friendship comedy-drama that other networks don’t program at this scale. All The Queen’s Men takes the franchise into a different genre: a drag-queen heist comedy. Assisted Living targets family audiences with multigenerational humor. These shows don’t get the theatrical releases of Madea films, but they generate reliable weekly viewership on cable (Tyler Perry Studios show listing).

What are Tyler Perry’s recent movies?

Perry has maintained a release cadence that rivals major studios, with recent films spanning drama, comedy, and documentary. Here’s what’s been released and what’s confirmed ahead.

Joe’s College Road Trip

Joe’s College Road Trip is listed on Tyler Perry Studios’ official archive as a 2026 release (Tyler Perry Studios official archive). The film features the return of Joe Simmons, Brian Simmons, Madea, and Young Joe — suggesting a multigenerational reunion play on the Madea universe (Rotten Tomatoes upcoming films). Details remain limited, but the 2026 date places it firmly in Perry’s upcoming pipeline.

Finding Joy

Finding Joy is scheduled for 2025 with Perry credited as Director, Writer, and Producer (Rotten Tomatoes film listing). The project marks a return to Perry’s solo creative control model — he writes, directs, and stars in films less frequently now than in his early career, so a triple credit suggests personal investment in the project.

Additional upcoming titles include Madea’s Destination Wedding (2025), Ruth & Boaz (2025, as Producer), and series projects Miss Governor, Straw, Duplicity, and Beauty in Black (Rotten Tomatoes project database). Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story documentary holds an 82% Rotten Tomatoes score, representing his highest-rated documentary work (Rotten Tomatoes documentary ratings). For those interested in other actors’ filmographies, here’s a list of Jack McMullen’s movies and TV shows: Jack McMullen films and TV shows

What movie took 27 years to make?

A Jazzman’s Blues holds the record for Perry’s longest development process — roughly 27 years from concept to completion.

A Jazzman’s Blues details

Perry developed A Jazzman’s Blues as a stage play long before his film career took off, but the project sat in development while he built his other franchises. The film finally received a theatrical run and streaming release, representing Perry’s return to stories rooted in Black Southern history — a marked contrast to the broad comedies of his Madea era. IMDb has featured the project in development discussions highlighting the extended timeline (Rotten Tomatoes development history).

Perry’s long-term projects

The Jazzman’s Blues case is unusual but not unique. Perry’s production model typically moves faster — Madea films took 12–18 months from greenlight to release — but personal passion projects get different treatment. Ruth & Boaz (2025) and Finding Joy (2025) suggest Perry is using his Netflix deal to fund more personal work while maintaining the commercial factory of BET series (Rotten Tomatoes production timeline).

“Tyler Perry is bringing back America’s favorite grandmother to Netflix for the first time ever”

— BET Article, BET

“Perry retired the character in 2019, saying ‘A Madea Family Funeral’ would be the last”

— Rotten Tomatoes, Rotten Tomatoes

Tyler Perry built his empire from stage plays to films like Madea, with a full Madea and Netflix guide detailing his prolific output.

Frequently asked questions