After “Bridesmaids” hit screens last summer the majority of speculation was around what its leading ladies would be up to next, and although Kristen Wiig was front and center in Paul Feig’s comedy it was Melissa McCarthy who most people wanted to talk about. Twelve months (and an Oscar nomination) later and the only real chance we’ve had to see her again is (sadly) in CBS’ “Mike and Molly.” Next up for McCarthy is a small role in Judd Apatow’s “This is 40,” and she’s also got Seth Gordon’s “Identity Thief” slated for next summer.
Her most interesting project though was undoubtedly her re-teaming with Paul Feig — a buddy-cop comedy with Sandra Bullock no less. And now there finally seems to be some movement on that project with 20th Century Fox hiring new writers to rewrite Katie Dippold’s (“Parks and Recreation”) spec script. Writing duo Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (“Bad Teacher,” “The Office,” “Year One”) have been tasked with getting the original script ready for filming, and we hope they do it fast because we can’t wait to see McCarthy and Bullock tearing it up together on the big screen.
And in other screenwriting news Darren Lemke — the man who penned the least awful Shrek sequel (“Shrek Forever After”) and Brian Singer’s “Jack the Giant Killer” — will write a big-screen version of “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” for Walden Media. The title started out as an educational computer game back in 1985 which taught geography before being turned into a children’s television game show by PBS between 1991 and 1995. Most recently, a remake of the original game was launched in November, and the game has remained an important entertaining educational tool in the intervening 25 years.
In the game, the eponymous Carmen Sandiego is the greatest detective at her agency, but becomes the world’s greatest thief and her partner must track her down. When a bigger mystery reveals itself it becomes unclear whether she’s a hero or a villain. Jennifer Lopez is one of the producers on the project and is apparently (and perhaps unsurprisingly) eyeing it as a potential starring vehicle. Screenwriter Lemke has also worked on DreamWorks Animation’s “Turbo” and a new “Goosebumps” movie for Columbia, so it appears he’s becoming one of the new go-to guys for child-friendly Hollywood adaptations. [IOTG/THR]