EXCLUSIVE : Tika Sumpter ( Sonic the Hedgehog 3 ) has co-written and is starring in a new Tyler Perry rom-com for Amazon MGM Studios, Deadline can exclusively reveal. She comes to the project after collaborating with Perry on films like A Madea Christmas and shows like The Haves and the Have Nots .
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Currently in production, the film known for the moment as Unt. Sisters in Italy will feature a supporting cast including Bresha Webb ( Run the World ), EGOT winner Whoopi Goldberg ( The Color Purple ), Ernie Hudson ( Ghostbusters franchise), Godfrey ( Regular Black ), Giulio Berruti ( Downhill ), Edmond Laryea ( FBI ), Sarayu Blue ( Expats ), and Justin Chatwin ( Reagan ). Pic will mark Perry’s final effort under a four-picture deal with the studio, announced in the fall of 2022.
The story follows two estranged sisters who, after their mother’s death, are called to Italy to discover that their mom owned a bed and breakfast in the Italian countryside. While the sisters contemplate what to do with the establishment, the two are tasked with a series of assignments delivered posthumously by their mother to preserve their sisterhood and learn how to live life at its fullest. Sumpter’s examination of the complexities that come with siblinghood is inspired by her personal experiences as the youngest child in her family.
Perry directs from a script by Sumpter and Kemiyondo Coutinho ( P-Valley ). In addition to Perry via Tyler Perry Studios, producers include Sumpter and Tyler Perry Studios’ Angi Bones, Tony Strickland, and Will Areu. Coutinho will serve as exec producer.
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Nominated for a Gotham Award for her turn as a young Michelle Obama (née Robinson) in Richard Tanne’s Southside with You , which she also produced, Sumpter is also known for roles in the Sonic the Hedgehog and Ride Along franchises, along with such films as The Underdoggs , The Old Man & the Gun , Get On Up , and Think Like a Man . Soon to be seen reprising in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 , her small-screen experience also includes roles on Mixed-ish and Gossip Girl , among other series.
Perry’s other three films falling under his Amazon deal are Divorce in the Black and the upcoming Black, White, & Blue and Joy Ridge . Among other upcoming projects for the media mogul is the WWII drama The Six Triple Eight , starring Kerry Washington, which will be released in select theaters on December 6 before debuting on Netflix on December 20. Entering into a multi-year first-look film deal with that streamer last October, he is represented by WME and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
Sumpter is repped by UTA, Brookside Artist Management, and Hansen Jacobson Teller; Webb by Linden Entertainment, Gersh, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Goldberg by WME and Edelstein Laird & Sobel; Godfrey by Innovative Artists and The Arlook Group; Berruti by Marina Masowietsky Management; Laryea by Steinberg Talent Management and STW Talent Agency; Blue by CAA, Mosaic, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman; Chatwin by Oscars Abrams Zimel & Associates and Innovative Artists; and Coutinho by Rothman Brecher Ehrich Livingston and attorney Chris Abramson.
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