Regency is coming home to momma.
Martin Lawrence is returning to his signature comedy franchise “Big Momma’s House,” and will be joined by Brandon T. Jackson, who is fresh off his role in Fox’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.”
Regency is fully financing and producing the untitled third installment, which studio partner 20th Century Fox will distribute. John Whitesell, who directed “Big Momma’s House 2,” will helm the threequel.
David T. Friendly returns to produce via his Friendly Films shingle. Friendly produced the first two films.
Whitesell is set to begin lensing in April in Atlanta from a script by Matthew Fogel. Randi Mayem Singer (“Tooth Fairy,” “Mrs. Doubtfire”) did a later pass on the script.
In the latest adventure, FBI agent Malcolm Turner and his 17-year-old nephew, Trent, go undercover at an all-girls performing arts school after Trent witnesses a murder. Posing as Big Momma and Charmaine, they must find the murderer before he finds them.
Martin’s Big Momma character was an immediate hit with moviegoers when “Big Momma’s House” hit the bigscreen in 2000. The laffer grossed $117.6 million domestically and $56.4 million overseas for a worldwide tally of $174 million.
Released in 2006, “Big Momma’s House 2” did less business but was still a success. Sequel grossed $70.2 million domestically and $68.1 million internationally for a total tally of $138.3 million.
Insiders say the filmmakers don’t want the threequel to be titled “Big Momma’s House 3.”
Lawrence is next in theaters with Screen Gems’ “Death At a Funeral,” which opens in April. He’s currently on his West Coast comedy tour.
Jackson’s past credits include “Tooth Fairy” and “Tropic Thunder.”
Lawrence is repped by UTA and the Collective; Jackson by CAA and ML Management.
