Melissa McCarthy Might Buddy Up with Jason Statham in ‘Susan Cooper’
2013 was the year of Melissa McCarthy's buddy movies, as both her 'Identity Thief' and 'The Heat' made well over a hundred million dollars at the box office. So far she's teamed up with Jason Bateman and Sandra Bullock, but for 'Susan Cooper' she may have someone tougher to play against: Jason Statham.
Deadline is reporting that Statham is in talks to join 'Cooper,' which will be helmed by McCarthy's 'Bridesmaids' and 'Heat' director Paul Feig. McCarthy would play a secret agent that ends up being something of bumbler (no surprise), while Statham would likely be riffing on James Bond as a fellow spy. It's unknown if the two will team up to fight crime together.
This would be a good movie for Statham. Other than 'The Expendables,' he mostly works in low budget action films, but the returns have been diminishing as this year's 'Parker' unable to crack the twenty million dollar mark domestically. Of course, he'll be as high profile as they come next summer when he stars as the villain of 'Fast and Furious 7' so doing a comedy with McCarthy (who, if we include 'The Hangover Part III' had three films this year that grossed over a hundred million dollars) could expand his audience, and maybe put him on the A list. If he passes, we'd expect Gerard Butler to jump at the chance.