I hope you're sitting down for this one guys because, a report just hit the web stating that a sequel to Alex Cross (starring Tyler Perry), is apparently in the works, even though the first film of the Tyler Perry era hasn't been released yet (it's out this weekend).

Expectations must be high enough for this move to already be in play – maybe not necessarily centi-million-dollar expectations, but high enough compared to budget ($23 million).

Reviews thus far haven't been good, as you'd expect (22% on Rotten Tomatoes as of the time of this post).

We've seen the movie, and I can tell you that its current low 22% rating is just about right. Although, I've spoken to a few others who'd say that 22% is even too generous.

But you all will get to see it for yourselves this weekend.

It's a mystery to me as to how well this will perform at the box office. It's just not a good film; however, that certainly hasn't prevented past Tyler Perry movies from being profitable. As I asked in an entry last week, will his base embrace his will to break out of the Madea comedy box, and support him in this new mold, as action hero?

History isn't exactly on his side here. In short, looking at box office for all his movies, I was able to reach this conclusion: Average total box office for Tyler Perry movies WITH Madea – roughly $60 million; Average box office total for Tyler Perry movies WITHOUT Madea – about $40 million.

So, clearly, Madea movies, on average, have done better than non-Madea Tyler Perry movies – about $20 million more in ticket sales, on average.

Will that trend continue with Alex Cross? We'll just have to wait to see, starting with this opening weekend's numbers.

I should note that I don't think Lionsgate/Summit is expecting the audience for Alex Cross to comprise primarily of Tyler Perry fans; I'd say that they're hoping for some cross-over appeal – especially fans of James Patterson's series of novels, which the film is based on. If they're not repulsed by the idea of Perry playing Cross, as many of you are, or if they're even just a little curious to see this new rendition, they might help bolster ticket sales, and make up for any gaps that go unfilled, if Perry's base doesn't show up.

But no matter for Mr Perry though, bad reviews and all, because Deadline is reporting this evening that a deal is indeed being done that will see another James Patterson Alex Cross novel (this one titled Double Cross) adapted into a movie, with Tyler Perry returning to star as Cross. 

No word on who will be behind the camera this time; although I won't at all be surprised if Perry opts to direct as well, even though he followed direction from Rob Cohen in the first film.

Stay tuned…