Madea Goes to the White House? Tyler Perry Will Play Gen. Colin Powell in Dick Cheney Movie

I am admittedly not a Tyler Perry fan. I think his movies tend to be overly preachy with a hint of misogynoir added in to make his point. Of course the overly sexual black woman catches HIV after having an affair behind her husband’s back. And let’s not ignore the fact that Perry, a black man, puts on a dress and a wig to play the caricature he’s created to represent black matriarchy. But I digress …

I simply find it hard to take him seriously. Even when he played Alex Cross, I was like, um, what?

So when I heard that he has been tapped to play Bush-administration Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell in a movie about Dick Cheney (I know, but just follow me here for a second), I immediately thought, “Is this a comedy?”

Deadline reports that Perry will star alongside Christian Bale, who will play Dick Cheney; Amy Adams, who will play Cheney’s wife, Lynne; Sam Rockwell, who will play George W. Bush; and Steve Carell, who will play Donald Rumsfeld.

OK, so the Steve Carell part also makes me think this might possibly be a comedy. It’s not a comedy. Coming Soon.net says it’s a biopic, and writer Adam McKay picked Perry for the role.

Nothing about Tyler Perry screams “serious role in a biopic about a major historical figure,” but maybe I am judging him too harshly based on his previous creative output.

Perhaps he really has the range.

I guess we will (eventually) see.

The film, which is being produced by Annapurna, Brad Pitt’s Plan B and Gary Sanchez, is currently in production. In the meantime, you can see Perry in Boo 2: A Madea Halloween, which will be released Oct. 20.