In August, it was reported that Idris Elba had signed on to play Alex Cross in a new film based on James Patterson’s best-selling murder mysteries, a part previously played by Morgan Freeman in movies like Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. That didn’t work out. Now Tyler Perry will star as Cross in the reboot of the franchise, which is being conceived as a trilogy and directed by Rob Cohen (XXX, The Fast and the Furious). There feels like there is some truism or long-term life lesson to be extracted from these circumstances. Like, sometimes you are promised Stringer Bell, and you get Madea instead. [Deadline]