Alex Cross (2012)

Alex Cross is an upcoming crime thriller film starring Tyler Perry as the titular character. The film is directed by Rob Cohen based on an adapted screenplay by Marc Moss and Kerry Williamson. The film is the third film appearance of the character Alex Cross, the main character of a series of novels by James Patterson. Cross was previously portrayed by Morgan Freeman in Kiss the Girls (1997) and Along Came a Spider (2001). In 2010, Idris Elba was attached to star as Alex Cross, but he was replaced by Perry. Filming took place in 2011. The film is scheduled to be released on October 19, 2012 in the United States and Canada.

Synopsis: Alex Cross follows the homicide detective/psychologist (Tyler Perry), from the worldwide best-selling novels by James Patterson, as he meets his match in a serial killer (Matthew Fox). The two face off in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, but when the mission gets personal, Cross is pushed to the edge of his moral and psychological limits in this taut and exciting action thriller.

Production: Alex Cross is directed by Rob Cohen based on an adapted screenplay by Marc Moss and Kerry Williamson. The film stars Alex Cross, the main character in a series of novels written by James Patterson. Cross was previously portrayed by Morgan Freeman in Kiss the Girls (1997) and Along Came a Spider (2001). The character was rebooted in 2010 when a project began development with a screenplay by Williamson and Patterson. David Twohy was attached as director with the responsibility of rewriting the screenplay. In August 2010, Idris Elba was cast as Alex Cross.

Toward the end of 2010, QED International purchased rights and the initial screenplay by Williamson and Patterson. By January 2011, Tyler Perry replaced Elba in the starring role, and Cohen was attached as director. QED hired Marc Moss, who worked on the previous Alex Cross films, to refine the screenplay for Perry and Cohen. With a production budget of $23 million, filming began on August 8, 2011 in Cleveland, Ohio and lasted until September 16, 2011. Filming locations in northeast Ohio served as a backdrop to Detroit, Michigan, where the character Alex Cross works for the Detroit Police Department. After Ohio, filming also took place in Detroit itself for two weeks.

Fox developed an extremely muscular physique for his role as Picasso and lost most of his body fat.