Janet Jackson to star in Tyler Perry's next film

Posted Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 8:28 AM Central

by Tim Briscoe

Pop music star Janet Jackson is coming back to acting. She has signed on for Tyler Perry's next film, an adaptation of his stage play Why Did I Get Married?

This is Jackson's first big-screen role since 2000's Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and only the third big-screen credit of her career. (Poetic Justice from 1993 was her first feature film.) In the '70s and '80s, Janet (Ms. Jackson if you're nasty) had roles on TV's Good Times and then Diff'rent Strokes.

According to Variety, filming will commence on Mar. 5. This, writer-director Tyler Perry's fourth film, is anticipated for an early 2008 release from Lionsgate. A stage performance of the play is currently available on DVD (pictured), also from Lionsgate.

Tyler Perry is most famous for the Madea character he performs in his Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea's Family Reunion. Perry's latest, Daddy's Little Girls, is a Madea-less film now in theaters. It is expected for a DVD release in June.