Tyler Perry and DeVon Franklin (“Flamin’ Hot,” “Miracles From Heaven”) are teaming up to produce faith-based films under a multi-year and multi-picture first-look deal at Netflix.
The films will be produced by the duo in conjunction with Tyler Perry Studios in the latest expansion of Perry’s creative partnership at Netflix, inked as a first-look film deal in October 2023 and has broadened to include scripted and unscripted TV projects.
“I’m so excited to be working with DeVon on this and future projects,” said Perry in a statement announcing the partnership. “I think in this polarizing world, and at a time where the world seems to be growing colder everyday, we both share the common goal of wanting to spread some good. And there’s no better place than Netflix.”
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Added Franklin, “Tyler and I have been great friends for over 15 years, so when he called me to team up on movies that can uplift the human spirit, I jumped at the chance and we couldn’t have a better partner than Netflix to help us inspire the world.”
The first film under the new deal will be “R&B,” written by Mike Elliott (“Brown Sugar,” “Just Wright,” “Like Mike”) and Cory Tynan (“Play’d: A Hip Hop Story”). The project is a modern-day retelling of Ruth and Boaz, one of the most iconic love stories in the Bible. According to its official synopsis, the film is set in Tennessee and centers on a young woman who “escapes the Atlanta music scene to care for an elderly widowed woman and in the process finds the love of her life and gains the mother she never had.”
“Tyler and DeVon have created some of the most inspiring movies in the faith-based space, so they are perfect partners to help us bring even more of these stories to our members,” stated Netflix VP of film Niija Kuykendall.
Perry’s upcoming projects with Netflix include “Six Triple Eight,” featuring an ensemble cast led by producer-star Kerry Washington, and the recently announced drama series “Beauty in Black.” His previous films with the streamer include “Mea Culpa,” starring Kelly Rowland and which debuted at No. 1 on the streamer’s Top 10 English films; “A Jazzman’s Blues”, a tale of forbidden love that made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival; “A Madea Homecoming,” the 12th installment of the billion-dollar “Madea” franchise; and the thriller “A Fall From Grace.”
Franklin is coming off the success of the Eva Longoria-directed film “Flamin’ Hot,” which was released by Searchlight via Hulu, becoming the studio’s most-watched streaming premiere, and won the 2023 SXSW Headliners Audience Award. Franklin previously produced the inspirational films “Breakthrough,” starring Chrissy Metz for Disney/Fox, Sony’s “The Star” and “Miracles From Heaven,” starring Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah, which became one of the highest-grossing, faith-based theatrical films of all time. Franklin is currently developing the faith-based romantic comedy “Relationship Goals: How to Win at Dating, Marriage and Sex,” based on Michael Todd’s bestselling book, with a script by Tynan and Elliot for Amazon Studios.
Perry and Franklin are represented by WME. Perry is also repped by Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole and Franklin is also repped by Artist Collective and John Meigs at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox.
Tynan and Elliot are represented by Ryan Saul and Corey Ackerman at Cartel, and Adam Cooper at Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein.
