Hot off the box office success of Bridesmaids, it has been announced that Melissa McCarthy has lined up a new film project with her Bridesmaids director Paul Feig. That followed another announcement that she and Bridesmaids co-writer Annie Mumolo have sold their own script to Paramount. Here’s the first question: Are these the same project? And here’s another: Was Bridesmaids actually the catalyst for female-geared comedies like we thought it would be? This certainly looks like a good start!
First, yes — Bridesmaids did not exactly win the box office. (Once again, that was Thor.) However, its showing of $24.4 million did exceed expectations. (Good buzz tends to help.) This is being considered a huge success, and if a film starring Melissa McCarthy, easily one of the funniest actors in that movie, is what Bridesmaids hath wrought, then we are living in a world that is a little bit better than it was before. And Paul Feig, who will be developing a romantic comedy for McCarthy, agrees with this:
“If an actress like Melissa becomes a huge star? THAT is a world I want to live in.”
Judging by Feig’s commendable track record for comedy (and female leads — see: Lindsey Weir in Freaks & Geeks for one great example), this will not be a case of cheesy rom-com backtracking. Then there’s the script from McCarthy and Mumolo, which was based on an idea by McCarthy’s husband, Ben Falcone. (He was also in Bridesmaids, playing a character who first appears as McCarthy’s seat-mate on their plane trip to Vegas.) It looks like a “road-trip” comedy with a Golden Fleece element — specifically, the Stanley Cup. The plot follows McCarthy’s character and her group of friends plotting to steal the top NHL prize for her sick husband to cheer him up.
So far, the script does not sound like the romantic comedy Paul Feig is doing. But if this means two starring vehicles for Melissa McCarthy, that is hardly a bad thing. In fact, it’s an awesome thing.
(Deadline and Geek Tyrant)
