Melissa McCarthy has lined up her next project. The comedy superstar will team up with her producing partner, frequent collaborator, and husband Ben Falcone on an untitled film about Boston’s first female cops in the 1970s, Variety reports. McCarthy and Falcone have signed on to produce the New Line project, which will be based on an as-yet unpublished book by Alexandra Lydon. McCarthy is also expected to star in the drama as one of Boston’s inaugural policewomen.
Lydon’s book was bought by Picador USA and “follows the transition of black and white women joining the Boston Police Department as they find themselves on the front lines of a racially divided city and become unwitting participants in a social revolution,” Variety summarizes.
McCarthy and Falcone will produce via their On the Day production company and Lydon will serve as executive producer. No word on a director or screenwriter yet.
This will not be the first time McCarthy has portrayed a Boston cop. The “Ghostbusters” star took on the role of Detective Shannon Mullins in the 2013 comedy “The Heat” opposite Sandra Bullock. McCarthy will also play a detective investigating a serial killer who is targeting puppets in “The Happytime Murders,” an R-rated comedy set to hit theaters next year. The Emmy winner is attached to produce that project as well.
McCarthy’s next gigs include two features directed by Falcone: “Life of the Party,” a college-set comedy, and “Margie Claus,” a holiday musical revolving around Santa Claus’ wife. McCarthy co-wrote both scripts. She’s also signed up to star in Marielle Heller’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” a dark comedy about a journalist who forges letters from late writers and actors.
McCarthy won an Emmy for her role in the CBS sitcom “Mike & Molly” in 2011 and received an Oscar nomination for “Bridesmaids” in 2012. She reprised her role as Sookie St. James in “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” for Netflix in November. McCarthy has also recently appeared as Sean Spicer on “Saturday Night Live” and as herself on the TV Land series “Nobodies,” on which she serves as exec producer.
