Madea's Family Reunion
Encyclopedia
Madea's Family Reunion is a 2006 comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...

 film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...

 of the stage production
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 of the same name written by Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, playwright, entrepreneur, screenwriter, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman...

 and sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...

 to Diary of a Mad Black Woman. It was written and directed by Perry, who also played several characters, including Mabel "Madea" Simmons. It was released on February 24, 2006, nearly one year following its predecessor, Diary of a Mad Black Woman. The independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

 was produced by Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...

.

While planning her family reunion
Family reunion
A family reunion is an occasion when many members of an extended family get together. Sometimes reunions are held regularly, for example on the same date of every year....

, the pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...

-packing grandma, Mabel "Madea" Simmons, must contend with the other dramas on her plate, including the runaway who has been placed under her care, and her troubled nieces, half-sisters Lisa and Vanessa.

Cast

  • Tyler Perry
    Tyler Perry
    Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, playwright, entrepreneur, screenwriter, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman...

     as Mabel "Madea" Simmons / Joe Simmons / Brian Simmons
  • Blair Underwood
    Blair Underwood
    Blair Underwood is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known as headstrong attorney Jonathan Rollins from the NBC legal drama L.A. Law, a role he portrayed for seven years. He has gained critical acclaim throughout his career, receiving numerous Golden Globe Award...

     as Carlos
  • Lynn Whitfield
    Lynn Whitfield
    Lynn Whitfield is an American actress.Whitfield began her acting career in television and theatre, before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special and a NAACP Image Award for her performance as Josephine Baker in the...

     as Victoria Breaux
  • Lisa Arrindell Anderson as Vanessa Breaux
  • Rochelle Aytes
    Rochelle Aytes
    Rochelle Aytes is an American actress. She was born in New York City and attended LaGuardia High School. She graduated with a BA in Fine Arts from State University of New York Purchase College.-Career:...

     as Lisa Breaux
  • Boris Kodjoe
    Boris Kodjoe
    Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe , better known as Boris Kodjoe, is an Austrian-born German actor and former fashion model who works primarily in the United States...

     as Frankie Henderson
  • Keke Palmer
    Keke Palmer
    Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer is an American actress and singer who rose to fame for her performance in the 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee. She also starred as the title character in the Nickelodeon sitcom True Jackson, VP...

     as Nikki Grady
  • Henry Simmons
    Henry Simmons
    Henry Oswald Simmons, Jr. is an American actor.-Life and career:Simmons was born in Stamford, Connecticut, the son of Aurelia, a school teacher, and Henry Simmons, Sr., an IRS agent. He is one of three children, including his twin sister, and another sister...

     as Isaac
  • Maya Angelou
    Maya Angelou
    Maya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly...

     as May
  • Jenifer Lewis
    Jenifer Lewis
    Jenifer Jeanette Lewis is an American film and television actress and singer.-Early life:Lewis was born in Kinloch, Missouri, to a nurse's aid mother and a factory worker father. She attended college at Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri...

     as Milay Jenay Lori
  • Tangi Miller
    Tangi Miller
    Tangi Miller is an American actress, model and dancer. As an actress she is known for the role of Elena Tyler on the popular television drama Felicity. In 2001 she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award.-Early life:...

     as Donna
  • Cicely Tyson
    Cicely Tyson
    Cicely Tyson is an American actress. A successful stage actress, Tyson is also known for her Oscar-nominated role in the film Sounder and the television movies The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots....

     as Myrtle
  • Johnny Gill
    Johnny Gill
    Johnny Gill is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B supergroup New Edition, and was also a member of another supergroup called LSG; with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. His signature song "My, My, My" has been included on numerous romantic...

     as Wedding singer
  • Cassi Davis
    Cassi Davis
    Cassandra "Cassi" Davis is an American actress. She is mostly known for her role as Ella Payne in Tyler Perry's House of Payne. Davis has done extensive work with director and writer Tyler Perry, and has played many roles in his various productions...

     as Aunt Sarah
  • Georgia Allen as Aunt Ruby
  • Nicholas Ortiz as Himself
  • Judge Mablean Ephriam
    Mablean Ephriam
    Mablean Deloris Ephriam, Esq. served as the judge on the courtroom series, Divorce Court from 1999 to 2006. She was replaced by Judge Lynn Toler....

     (cameo) as Herself
  • China Anderson (uncredited) as Young Child

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released by Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...

 on February 21, 2006.
  1. "Find Myself in You
    Find Myself in You
    "Find Myself in You" is a single by Brian McKnight, released in 2006. It was released on the original soundtrack to the film Madea's Family Reunion, as well as his album, Ten....

    " - Brian McKnight
    Brian McKnight
    Brian McKnight is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, and R&B/Pop musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays nine instruments: piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet....

     - 4:14
  2. "We're Gonna Make It" - LL Cool J
    LL Cool J
    James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...

     and Mary Mary
    Mary Mary
    Mary Mary is an American gospel music duo, consisting of sisters Erica Atkins-Campbell and Tina Atkins-Campbell . The duo are often credited along with Kirk Franklin for broadening the fan base of urban contemporary gospel in the 2000s by introducing elements of soul music, hip hop, funk and jazz...

     - 4:54
  3. "Keep Your Head Up" - Chaka Khan
    Chaka Khan
    Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...

     - 4:34
  4. "Tonight" - Kem
    Kem (singer)
    KEM Owens , professionally known as "'KEM'", is an American R&B/soul singer, songwriter, and producer...

     - 3:55
  5. "Everyday (Family Reunion)" - Chaka Khan, Carl Thomas, Yolanda Adams
    Yolanda Adams
    Yolanda Adams is an American Grammy- and Dove-award-winning Yolanda Adams is an American [[Grammy Awards|Grammy]]- and [[Dove Awards|Dove]]-award-winning...

    , and Gerald Levert
    Gerald Levert
    Gerald Levert was an American R&B singer. Gerald Levert sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon in the R&B trio LeVert. He was also a part of LSG, an R&B supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and Levert...

     - 4:48
  6. "Love and Happiness" - Al Green
    Al Green
    Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...

     - 5:02
  7. "You For Me (Wedding Song)" - Johnny Gill
    Johnny Gill
    Johnny Gill is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B supergroup New Edition, and was also a member of another supergroup called LSG; with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. His signature song "My, My, My" has been included on numerous romantic...

     5:37
  8. "Family Reunion" - The O'Jays
    The O'Jays
    The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1963 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert , Walter Williams , William Powell , Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. The O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005...

     - 6:55
  9. "I'll Be" - Will Downing
    Will Downing
    Will Downing , is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Downing is known in the contemporary jazz and R&B music genres for his rich baritone vocals, and his interpretations of R&B and pop classics that stretch back to the early 1980s...

     - 4:10
  10. "Wounds in the Way" - Rachelle Ferrell
    Rachelle Ferrell
    Rachelle Ferrell is an American singer and musician. Although she has had some success in the mainstream R&B, pop, gospel, and classical music scene, she is most noted for her talents as a contemporary jazz singer.-Biography:...

     - 4:21

Box office

Madea's Family Reunion was budgeted at $6 million and opened at #1 in its opening weekend (2/24-26) with $30,030,661 and eventually grossed $63,257,940 domestically with an additional $50,939 internationally, tying $63,308,879 worldwide after 9 weeks in theaters.

Small independent filmmaker Tyler Perry has garnered one of the highest wide-release openings to date in 2006, in both gross ($30 million) and screen average ($13,687).

"The number one movie is Madea's Family Reunion, a small comedy/melodrama which grossed an astounding $30.3 million from 2,194 venues. It had a super-hot venue average of $13,787...."

"Playing at 2,194 locations across North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, the film averaged a remarkable estimated $13,788 per screen, demonstrating the enormous breadth and depth of Perry's audience. The debut weekend of Madea's Family Reunion outperformed the opening weekend of Lionsgate's first Tyler Perry film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, by nearly 40 percent."

Audience

The reasoning for the film's relative success, according to Steve Rothenberg, Lions Gate president of domestic distribution, is due to its targeted market appeal, "I believe that we're in all the right theaters...I'm not sure there's much room for expansion." To illustrate the point, Lions Gate's exit poll
Exit poll
An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. Unlike an opinion poll, which asks whom the voter plans to vote for or some similar formulation, an exit poll asks whom the voter actually voted for. A similar poll conducted before actual...

s showed 52 percent of the audience were black women over the age of 35.

Critical reception

Madea's Family Reunion received mixed reviews from critics, with Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

reporting a 45% approval rating, counting from 18 reviews.
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