Rex Reed and critics be damned, because audiences are loving Melissa McCarthy. “Identity Thief,” her first major leading role following her Oscar-nominated breakout success in “Bridesmaids,” is massive hit, already earning over $115 million and counting. And it’s probably a safe bet that her summer comedy “The Heat,” with Sandra Bullock, will generate as many bucks if not even more. So what’s potentially next on her slate? How about a movie with Bill Murray?
Deadline report that McCarthy will be receiving an offer (that’s right, this isn’t even an offer story, it’s a “going-to-get-an-offer” story) to star opposite Bill Murray in “St. Vincent De Van Nuys.” Wait, “St. Vincent De Van What Now?” First announced last summer, the Black List dramedy by Ted Melfi, who will also direct, follows a 12-year-old boy who forms an unlikely friendship with his war veteran neighbor (Murray). McCarthy will play the boy’s single mother, a part she apparently pushed hard to get, with the movie being compared in tone to “Silver Linings Playbook” and “As Good As It Gets.”
By all accounts it seems like a formality at this point and she’ll get the gig, but it actually won’t quite be next for McCarthy. She plans to make her co-directorial debut with husband Ben Falcone on “Tammy” first, before moving to ‘Van Nuys.’ And both of these movies should nicely fill her hiatus this summer once “Mike & Molly” wraps. So it’s non-stop for McCarthy. But…what is Billy Gardell up to?
