Fresh off an Emmy nomination for his work as Paper Boi on FX's Atlanta, Brian Tyree Henry is in final negotiations to join Melissa McCarthy in New Line's action-comedy Superintelligence, Collider has exclusively learned.
McCarthy's husband and longtime collaborator Ben Falcone is directing from a script by Steve Mallory (The Boss). McCarthy and Falcone are also producing via their company On the Day. Production is currently under way in Atlanta, and Warner Bros. will release the film next year on Christmas Day.
McCarthy will play a former corporate executive whose earnest yet unfulfilled life is turned upside down when she's selected for observation by the world’s first super-intelligence — an artificial intelligence that may or may not take over the world. Late night host James Corden will provide the voice of the artificial intelligence, while Bobby Cannavale will play McCarthy's former boyfriend, who re-enters her life after an extended absence.
Henry is nearing a deal to play McCarthy's best friend in Superintelligence, and while he's a very funny actor, this happens to be his first major studio comedy, as he has gravitated towards more dramatic fare of late.
With the second season of Atlanta in the books, Henry is gearing up for a monster fall, as he co-stars in Steve McQueen's heist movie Widows, Barry Jenkins' drama If Beale Street Could Talk, and the drug drama White Boy Rick starring Matthew McConaughey. You can see him in the trailer, encouraging young Ricky Wershe Jr. (Richie Merritt) to deal drugs, though according to IMDb, he's playing a character named Detective Jackson, so perhaps that's how Wershe wound up a government informant at the tender age of 15. Henry also voices Jefferson Davis in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which is shaping up to be a hit this holiday season, judging by early reaction to the animated film's eye-popping trailers.
Henry's previously appeared alongside Sterling K. Brown in Hotel Artemis and alongside his Atlanta co-star Lakeith Stanfield the acclaimed indie drama Crown Heights. He's represented by CAA, JWS Entertainment and attorney Darren M. Trattner.
