The Unexpected Follow-Up to Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club

The Single Moms Club: A Box Office Flop

Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club, released in 2014, tells the story of five single mothers who come together to support each other. Despite Perry's initial confidence in the movie, it received widespread negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office, grossing only $16.4 million against an $8 million budget.

Lytia and Branson glare at each other while standing in a movie theater in Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club.

The star-studded cast, including Nia Long, Amy Smart, Cocoa Brown, Terry Crews, William Levy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ryan Eggold, Zulay Henao, and Tyler Perry himself, couldn't save the film from its disappointing outcome.

if loving you is wrong cast

The TV Show Spin-Off: If Loving You Is Wrong

In an unexpected turn of events, Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club was not the end of the story on screen. Before the movie even premiered, Perry had already created a follow-up project in the form of a television show called If Loving You Is Wrong. This adaptation, which aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network, featured new characters and stories but maintained a similar premise to the original film.

Starring Zulay Henao, who reprised her role as Esperanza Willis, If Loving You Is Wrong garnered excellent ratings and enjoyed a successful five-season run on television. The show's pilot even set a record as the highest-rated series premiere in the history of OWN, making it a stark contrast to the fate of The Single Moms Club.

Why a TV Show Instead of a Sequel?

The decision to create a TV show rather than a traditional sequel to The Single Moms Club seems justified in light of the divergent outcomes of the two projects. The soap opera's immense success, coupled with the movie's failure, made it clear that a direct sequel would not have been a wise move for Perry.

Given the overwhelming positive response to If Loving You Is Wrong, it became apparent that there was no need to revisit The Single Moms Club in the form of a movie sequel. The TV show's popularity and longevity spoke volumes about the audience's preference for the adapted series over a continuation of the original film.