It snuck up on us, didn't it? The end of SNL Season 38 brought along with it key staff changes, among them the upcoming departure of head writer Seth Meyers and the immediate departures of cast members Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, and (unofficially) Jason Sudeikis. Few people have shaped SNL over the past 8 years more than these men — Meyers with his leadership in the writers room and charm as Weekend Update host, and Hader, Armisen and Sudeikis as the cast's workhorses and loadbearing performers. Indeed, many pegged Season 38 as a "transitional year" in the wake of Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg leaving the show a year ago, [...]
Melissa McCarthy is lining up quite an impressive cast for Tammy, her first movie as director. Variety reports that Dan Aykroyd and Allison Janney are both in talks to join the cast, which also includes McCarthy, Mark Duplass, Susan Sarandon, and Kathy Bates. Tammy will mark the first movie as screenwriters and directors for McCarthy and husband Ben Falcone, who are serving as co-writers and co-directors on the project. The film follows a woman named Tammy (McCarthy) who hits the road with her profane, alcoholic grandmother (Sarandon) after finding out her husband is cheating on her and quitting her fast food job. Aykroyd is in negotiations to [...]
Chris O'Dowd may reunite with his Bridesmaids co-star Melissa McCarthy in St. Vincent De Van Nuys, a new comedy-drama that has Bill Murray in the lead role. Deadline reports that O'Dowd is in "early talks" to join the cast as a nice Catholic priest who is concerned about Murray's cranky misanthrope character mentoring a 12-year-old neighbor boy whose hardworking single mom (McCarthy) unwisely leaves him in Murray's hands. St. Vincent is the feature film debut of writer/director Ted Melfi, who has a fun Bill Murray story just like everybody who works with Bill Murray does. Chris O'Dowd will probably have one soon too.
The past six months have been pretty sluggish for comedies at the box office, with high-profile movies like This Is 40 and Guilt Trip faring worse than expected, but comedy's dry spell seems to be over. This weekend, the Jason Bateman-Melissa McCarthy vehicle Identity Thief topped the charts, earning $36.6 million despite mostly negative reviews from critics. Last weekend's #1 movie, Warm Bodies, a zombie rom-com, came in second with $11.5 million. Identity Thief and Warm Bodies are the first comedies to top the box office since Seth MacFarlane's Ted was #1 for a single weekend last summer. Please use the comments section to thank me for not giving this post one of those [...]
Bridesmaids and Mike and Molly's Melissa McCarthy has her first movie in which she has a starring role, Identity Theft, coming out tomorrow, and she's already set up her own production company with her husband, writer/actor Ben Falcone. According to The Hollywood Reporter, McCarthy and Falcone's company is called On the Day and has three movie projects in the works. They are:
- Michelle Darnell – Based on an original character created by McCarthy and on a story written by McCarthy and Falcone, the plot for this movie is under wraps. McCarthy and Falcone will write the script with fellow Groundlings alum Steve Mallory.
- Cousin Irv from [...]
