Perry will serve as a producer for Malcom D. Lee’s Strung, which will star Chloe Bailey as the lead. This marks the second film of its kind for Bailey, who previously starred in 2023’s Swarm, which told the story of a young woman’s obsession with a pop star, and what happens when super-fandom takes a dark turn.
Jason Blum, Tim Palen, Lee, and Dominique Telson will also be producing for the film alongside Perry. For executive producers, Philip Waley, Shaun S. Sutton, Alan McElroy, and Giselle Johnson-Morris will hold those roles.
According to the Strung‘s logline, the Grammy-nominated songstress will be starring as a talented violinist “whose prestigious new role as a music tutor for an enigmatic, elite family spirals into a psychological battle for her safety and sanity.”
As for the rest of the cast, Lynn Whitfield, Lucien Laviscount, Anna Diop, and Coco Jones are credited in the ensemble. The film will open the 30th annual American Black Film Festival in Miami Beach, which runs across five days between May 27 and May 31, 2026. ABFF guests are expected to experience star-studded events, networking, and critiquing films directed, produced, and starring Black creators.
In a statement to Variety, the president of Nice Crowd and producer of ABFF, Nicole Friday, said the psychological thriller is “especially right for this moment.”
As we celebrate 30 years of the American Black Film Festival, having Malcolm D. Lee return with his latest project, Strung, feels especially right for this moment. Malcolm has been part of the ABFF journey, and his return under our ‘Homecoming’ theme feels truly full circle. It’s a special way to open the festival in Miami Beach as we mark this milestone.
It’s unclear whether Perry will attend the festival, but this is not his first rodeo when it comes to producing films. He is best known for his Madea series, in which he portrays the iconic grandmother character. The no-nonsense, blunt, aggressive, and yet comedic character has been in several films with a supportive storyline, but is its own franchise in the Perry’s universe including: Madea’s Family Reunion (2006), Madea Goes to Jail (2009), Madea’s Witness Protection (2012), A Madea Family Funeral (2019), and A Madea Homecoming (2022).
While Perry is known for his iconic Madea character, he also does double duty in the films, taking on the role of Joe, a great-uncle-type known for his flirty one-liners. Perry has also turned away from those comedic films as of late to go into drama. A few of his best-known drama films are: Why Did I Get Married? (2007), For Colored Girls (2010), Acrimony (2018), A Fall from Grace (2020), and A Jazzman’s Blues (2022).
Those Perry films are mostly available on Netflix, but Strung will begin streaming on Peacock on June 26, 2026.
- Birthdate
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September 14, 1969
- Birthplace
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New Orleans, Louisiana, USA