Eighteen years ago, Tyler Perry brought his DIY play to the big screen. Released in 2005, “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” chronicles one beleaguered woman’s journey to healing and self-discovery after being betrayed by her philandering husband. The film features all the classical elements of Perry productions. It’s set in a predominantly Black area of the South, there are theatrical church scenes and plenty of the over-the-top histrionics extracted straight from his plays. But more importantly, there was Madea.
Played by Perry himself, the matriarch emerged as a rambunctious, pistol-packing matriarch who’s as comfortable espousing quirky wisdom as she is ferocious clapbacks. Upon its release, the flick got mixed reviews from critics — but it grossed $50.7 million at the box office, just about 10-times more than its budget. Since then, Perry’s released nine additional Madea films, with the eight that came out in theaters grossing $570 million at the box office, with Madea’s fiery personality being the main attraction.
Each flick features a distinctly new adventure, but they’re threaded by a brand of heart and hilarity that could only come from a figure like Madea. Things get wild pretty quickly. By the third Madea-focused movie in the franchise, she’s gone to jail. By the sixth flick, she’s found herself in witness protection.
While her antics get pretty wild and it’s all pretty funny, there’s a moral soul stitched into the films. In “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” it’s Madea’s bluster and iron backbone that help her granddaughter Helen Simmons-McCarter (Kimberly Elise) to rebuild herself and strike back at her terrible husband. In “I Can Do Bad All by Myself,” Madea helps steer an alcoholic woman to guardianship.
Whether it’s an unconventional brand of paternal warmth or a hilarious back-and-forth, Madea offers a little bit of everything, with each movie offering another side to the character. The Madea flicks aren’t all in one place, but they’re out there. Today, we’re giving you the rundown on how to watch all the movies in the franchise. Check it out below.
Madea Movies in Chronological Order
While Madea appears in all the films in the franchise, there’s no build-up to a coherent story, so you can pretty much watch them in any order you want to. Below is the breakdown:
“Diary of a Mad Black Woman” (2005)
“Madea’s Family Reunion” (2006)
“Madea Goes to Jail” (2009)
“I Can Do Bad All by Myself” (2009)
“Madea’s Big Happy Family” (2011)
“Madea’s Witness Protection” (2012)
“A Madea Christmas” (2013)
“Boo! A Madea Halloween” (2016)
“Boo 2! A Madea Halloween” (2017)
“A Madea Family Funeral” (2019)
“A Madea Homecoming (2022)
Do you have to watch the Madea movies in order?
You technically don’t have to watch Madea movies in the order of their release, but “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” does a great job setting up the baseline for the titular matriarch’s wild antics.
Where are the Madea movies streaming?
“Diary of a Mad Black Woman” is streaming on Netflix and Hulu. You can rent Diary of a Mad Black Woman on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Vudu and Redbox.
“Madea’s Family Reunion” is streaming on Peacock TV. You can rent it on Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, Redbox and Apple TV.
“Madea Goes to Jail” is streaming on Hulu, Peacock TV and Spectrum TV. You can rent it on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Redbox and Apple TV.
“I Can Do Bad All by Myself” is streaming on FreeVee. You can rent it on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Redbox and Apple TV.
“Madea’s Big Happy Family” is streaming on Peacock TV. You can rent it on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Redbox and Apple TV.
“Madea’s Witness Protection” is streaming on Peacock TV. You can rent it on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Redbox and Apple TV.
“A Madea Christmas” is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Spectrum TV. You can rent it on Apple TV, Vudu and Redbox.
You can rent “Boo! A Madea Halloween” on ROW8, Redbox, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Vudu.
“Boo 2! A Madea Halloween” is streaming on Peacock TV. You can rent it on ROW8, Amazon Prime Video, Redbox, Apple TV and Vudu.
You can rent “A Madea Family Funeral” on ROW8, Amazon Prime Video, Redbox, Apple TV and Vudu.
“A Madea Homecoming” is streaming exclusively on Netflix.
