We’ll have to wait for the numbers to come in on Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone’s latest effort, The Boss, but they already have one hit under their belt with Tammy, which grossed $100 million worldwide off a $19 million budget. With that kind of success, it’s not surprising that New Line wants the couple to make a third movie together, and have given the green light to Life of the Party. Like with Tammy and The Boss, McCarthy would star and Falcone would direct while they both worked on the screenplay and produced.
Details on the plot are under wraps, but according to THR, “the film has been described as being akin in tone to the Rodney Dangerfield hit Back to School and pitched as a broad comedy playing on McCarthy's strengths.” As I said in my review of The Boss, McCarthy is fine when left to her own devices, but the only person who seems to get the best work out of her is director Paul Feig. That may be because he knows the best material to use whereas McCarthy and Falcone will let a scene run on far too long even if a joke has clearly worn out its welcome.
Hopefully, whether The Boss is a hit or a flop (the film is projected to gross in the low $20 million range this weekend, and could even overtake Batman v Superman for the number one spot), it will be a learning experience for both Falcone and McCarthy, and they’ll have refined their talents for Life of the Party, which aims to shoot this August with a budget in the same ballpark as Tammy.
McCarthy will next be seen in Ghostbusters, which opens July 15th.
