Melissa McCarthy is busy proving that you don’t have to be 21 and a stick figure to be a female movie star. She’s currently the hottest comedy actress around and now Deadline reports that she’s been offered the female lead in St. Vincent de Van Nuys, although she’s yet to officially sign on.
The movie is about a cantankerous old man (Bill Murray) who forms a bond with the 12-year-old son of a single mother (the role McCarthy is circling) who moves in next door. It seems likely McCarthy will agree, as she auditioned for the role rather than the offer coming out of the blue.
Theodore Melfi is making his directorial debut based on his own script, which was featured on The Black List of the best unproduced screenplays in 2011. The movie is being pitched as being in the same vein as Silver Linings Playbook and As Good As It Gets.
The writer-director commented, “The relationship transforms both the man and the boy and even though he teaches the kid everything about his decadent lifestyle, from fighting to drinking, gambling and how to cheat lie and steal. And the 12-year-old has such a pure soul that he only extracts the good from all this.”
Shooting should start this summer on a $13 million budget. It may be timing that’s the main issue over whether McCarthy does officially sign on, as she’s also due to shoot her directorial debut Tammy this summer, once the latest season of her TV show Mike & Molly comes to an end.