Lionsgate's man of the moment, Tyler Perry, has brokered a deal to produce the cross-dressing playwright's next flick, "Daddy's Little Girl" -- and this time, the gray-haired, snappy grandma Madea will be conspicuously absent.

Perry struck gold with his last two films, "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" and the recent box office champ, "Madea's Family Reunion," which together grossed over $100 million for Lionsgate during their respective theater runs. Both films were adapted from Perry's own stage plays, and starred the writer-director as sassy matriarch Madea, an advice-spewing grandma in a housedress and orthopedic shoes who could double as an NFL linebacker.

Per Variety, Perry will write and direct "Little Girl," a love story between a single father whose occupation as a janitor threatens his romance with a successful female lawyer, whose father disapproves. No word yet on casting, but the project has been fast-tracked to begin production in June, aiming for a February 2007 release.

From Variety: "Last year, "Diary" grossed more than $50 million at the box office. Since then, Lionsgate has sold more than 6 million copies of "Diary" and Perry's stage plays on DVD.

In April, Perry will bring the franchise to the bookstands with the release of his first tome, "Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries on Life and Love," from Penguin imprint Riverdale."