Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon may be teaming up for a woman-directed comedy. The actresses are in talks to star in Susanna Fogel’s “The Spy Who Dumped Me,” Deadline reports.
If they sign on for the project, Kunis and McKinnon will play BFFs who “unwittingly become entangled in an international conspiracy when one of the women discovers the boyfriend who dumped her was actually a spy,” the source summarizes.
Imagine Entertainment is producing the feature, and Lionsgate will distribute. Filming is expected to kick off this summer.
Folks have been speculating about who will play James Bond and helm the next franchise film for years, but these conversations have been dominated by male actors and directors. We’re already so much more invested in “The Spy Who Dumped Me.”
Another female-led espionage comedy, Paul Feig’s “Spy,” starring Melissa McCarthy, grossed over $365 million worldwide on a budget of $65 million.
“Chasing Life” co-creator Fogel will co-write the script in addition to her directing duties. She previously helmed 2014’s “Life Partners,” a dramedy about a co-dependent friendship starring Gillian Jacobs (“Love”) and Leighton Meester (“Gossip Girl”).
When we asked Fogel her advice for other women directors, she said, “Have confidence in your own voice, be entrepreneurial, and take big risks with the knowledge that, by default of being a woman, people are going to advise you to be conservative, play it safe, make sure everyone likes you, and constantly question whether or not you’re ready to be in charge.”
“It’s rarely talked about as a gender thing, and it’s often subconscious, but people are generally less comfortable entrusting executive power — and finances — to women, and I think it’s easy as a female director to sense their doubt and psych yourself out,” she observed. “Which only perpetuates the cycle and proves their point.”
McKinnon stars in another hotly anticipated woman-directed comedy, Lucia Aniello’s “Rough Night.” The “SNL” star, Scarlett Johansson, Zoë Kravitz (“Big Little Lies”), Ilana Glazer (“Broad City”), and Jillian Bell (“Workaholics”) play former college friends who reunite for a bachelorette party, but the evening takes an unexpectedly dark turn when an overeager attempt to mount a male stripper leads to his death. The film opens June 16.
Kunis was most recently seen in “Bad Moms” alongside Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn. The female-led ensemble comedy made nearly $180 million worldwide and was made for $20 million. A sequel is in the works.
While promoting “Bad Moms,” Kunis addressed the unfair expectations placed on films with female protagonists in an interview for ABC News’ “Popcorn With Peter Travers.” She said, “The hardest part about all of this is when a movie that is starring women does well, everyone goes, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ … But when it goes bad, then everyone goes, ‘We knew it. We knew this was going to happen.’ A male-driven film, it doesn’t matter, whether it’s good or bad, no one comments on it,” Kunis explained. “It’s just either good or bad. With a female-driven film, it’s females. ‘Well this female succeeded, or this female failed.’ It’s going to have to change one day.”
