Tyler Perry is a Hollywood Player Who Does Things His Way

Tyler Perry, the writer, director and sometimes star of feel-good movies about black Americans, once walked away from studios that wanted to change his scripts.

"I went to Paramount and I went to Fox and they were giving me what they call notes – change this and change that," Perry, 38, said in an interview at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles. "I just said, `I'll go home and do a direct-to-DVD movie.'"

Perry, whose "Meet the Browns" opens March 21, changed his plans after his agent got a call from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. in 2004. The studio, looking for films for black audiences, gave Perry the control he wanted. The result: Perry's four movies have taken in $201 million in worldwide ticket sales, more than five times their estimated production costs, according to Box Office Mojo.

"He's an icon in the African American community," said Michael Burns, Lionsgate's vice chairman. "Like every great player, he wants the ball and we're happy to give it to him."

Perry's work reflects his life. His first play, "I Know I've Been Changed," was drawn from letters he wrote to himself about abuse he suffered as a child, according to his Web site. His movies reflect his experience growing up in poverty.

"We were poor, but we always had food and the lights were always on," Perry said.

"Meet the Browns," starring Angela Bassett and former basketball star Rick Fox, is projected to generate $66.5 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales, based on figures from the Hollywood Stock Exchange, a Web site that estimates box-office performance. That would make it Perry's most successful film, topping the $63.3 million in North American sales for "Madea's Family Reunion."

Perry's films cost from $6 million to $9 million, well below the Hollywood norm. Expenses are low partly because the movies —most based on his plays — are shot quickly in or near his Atlanta studio.

"None of the movies have taken longer than 28, 29 days," Perry said. "I'm a two-take guy. If I'm doing three, there's something wrong or it's really great."

Lionsgate, run from Santa Monica, and Perry work under what Burns calls a "50-50 partnership." The studio pays for production and gets a distribution fee. Perry is paid for directing, producing and acting and gets a share of sales, Burns said.

In addition to stage and film businesses, Perry produces the TV series "House of Payne" from his studio. The show, also distributed by Lionsgate, airs on TBS.

Like Perry's other films, "Meet the Browns" revolves around issues such as marital trust and the effects of crime and violence on black families. The film focuses on the cultural clash that results when a single mother, played by Bassett, takes her three children from inner-city Chicago to a small Southern town to attend her father's funeral.

The movie includes a short appearance by Perry's signature character Madea, an outspoken, gun-toting matron played by Perry in drag. The film's happy ending is part of his formula.

"What my brand stands for is family," he said. "It is children. It is inspiration."