With Rob Cohen's adaptation of James Patterson's Alex Cross opening in theaters this weekend, you might have thought we'd have to wait to gauge audience response to Tyler Perry in Morgan Freeman's former role before moving ahead with sequels.  Think again.  Perry and Patterson are reportedly in the final stages of sealing a deal for the planned sequel, Double Cross.  Another adaptation from Patterson's series, this would return Perry to the title role of the crime solver faced with yet another serial killing spree. Not bad for being the first picture that Perry didn't direct, produce or write.  Hit the jump for more on Double Cross. 

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Deadline reports that Perry and Patterson have all but sealed the deal on the Alex Cross sequel, Double Cross. Although Perry refused the option to write, direct or produce the current film, there is no word yet on whether or not he'll take over one of those duties for the sequel.  The box office and critical response this weekend will surely help to iron out that question.

Here's the book description [with potential spoilers] for Patterson's Double Cross (via Amazon):

Just when Alex thought his life was calming down into a routine of patients and therapy sessions, he finds himself back in the game--this time to catch a criminal mastermind like no other.

A spate of elaborate murders in Washington D.C. have the whole East Coast on edge. They are like nothing Alex Cross and his new girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, have ever seen. With each murder, the case becomes increasingly complex. There's only one thing Alex knows: the killer adores an audience.

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As victims are made into gruesome spectacles citywide, inducing a media hysteria, it becomes clear to Alex that the man he's after is a genius of terror--and he's after fame. The killer has the whole city by its strings--and he'll stop at nothing to become the most terrifying star that Washington D.C. has ever seen.