Tyler Perry, the man who has built a Hollywood empire on making caricatures out of black people, is set to star as Det. Alex Cross in director Rob Cohen’s adaptation of bestselling author James Patterson’s I, Alex Cross. Perry inherits the role from Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman, who did a mighty fine job in the first two Alex Cross features: Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider.

QED International is shopping the project around as the first in an Alex Cross reboot trilogy. According to Deadline, Paramount Pictures and Lionsgate (Perry’s go-to distributor) may be interested in picking the flick up.

I, Alex Cross follows the detective as he tracks down an escort murdering serial killer who may have also done in a loved one. Cross has been featured in 18 of Patterson’s novels. No word if  Perry will don a dress for the big screen adaptation.

Personally, I think Patterson peaked with “Kiss the Girls.” It’s not his fault. There’s just no way to ever top a chapter that includes a abducted girl receiving a milk enema prior to having a snake introduced into her asshole. Sadly, that was left out of the movie.