Melissa McCarthy is set to take the lead of a brand-new holiday comedy. The actress, who has been active since the late 1990s, initially gained prominence on television with major roles in the series Gilmore Girls and Mike & Molly. However, what truly catapulted her to stardom was her role in the Paul Feig film Bridesmaids in 2011, a role that earned her the first of two Oscar nominations and helped her transition to film, following that project with titles including Identity Thief, Spy, and The Heat.
Per THR, McCarthy has just signed on for a leading role in a new film by screenwriter Richard Curtis, who penned the 2003 holiday rom-com Love, Actually. The currently untitled film is set to be directed by Sam Boyd, who created the 2020 series Love Life in addition to helming four episodes and directing the 2018 Emma Roberts film In a Relationship, which was adapted from his own 2015 short film of the same name. The project, which is being created for Peacock by Universal Pictures and Working Title, will follow a dad who teams up with a genie to help him reconcile with his family after ignoring them in favor of work for too long.
Every Upcoming Melissa McCarthy Project
This Richard Curtis project isn't the only upcoming film that will feature McCarthy as a magical being. She will also be appearing as the sea witch Ursula in the live-action The Little Mermaid remake, which was helmed by Rob Marshall and is set to debut in theaters on May 26, 2023. Ursula is the devious part-human, part-octopus being who takes the mermaid Ariel's voice in exchange for giving her legs so she can explore life on land.
McCarthy is also set to appear in the upcoming film Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, which will be the directorial debut of comedian and sitcom icon Jerry Seinfeld. Set in Michigan in the early 1960s, the film follows the intense rivalry between Post and Kellogg's as they race to develop the first breakfast pastry in the market. McCarthy will appear in the film alongside a cavalcade of stars including Amy Schumer, Jim Gaffigan, Hugh Grant, James Marsden, Jack McBrayer, Thomas Lennon, Bobby Moynihan, Max Greenfield, Christian Slater, Cedric Yarbrough, Maria Bakalova, and Seinfeld himself.
Curtis still needs to write the screenplay for this new Melissa McCarthy vehicle, so it seems unlikely that any of her co-stars will be cast until that process is completed. However, the film will be a two-hander with a male lead, so they will likely try to tap an A-list comedy star to fill that role. If they start with stars that McCarthy has worked with in the past, it's possible they could reach out to Identity Thief's Jason Bateman, Superintelligence's Bobby Cannavale, or even Spy star Jude Law.
Source: THR