Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone: A Match Made in Comedy

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Melissa McCarthy is coming back — sooner or later — for Christmas.

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Deadline recently reported that a new holiday movie starring the comedy star in New York is on the way. It looks like the project is in good hands, with Love Actually writer Richard Curtis.

The film is “a fairy-tale comedy about a workaholic man who enlists the help of a magical genie to help win his family back before Christmas,” according to Deadline.

McCarthy previously signed up for Margie Claus, which was supposed to mark her debut in a musical, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

However, that story dates back more than five years — two years before Margie Claus was supposed to materialize onscreen. News stories about McCarthy’s upcoming Christmas movie don’t state its title.

While we’re waiting to see what the story is with Melissa McCarthy’s upcoming project, let’s see what she and Falcone have made together so far, and where they’re at now.

Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone’s Baby: On the Day Productions

McCarthy and Falcone launched their joint On the Day Productions in 2013, according to Variety. The following year, the production company released its first movie, the McCarthy-starring comedy vehicle Tammy.

Directed and co-written by Falcone — and produced, co-written by, and starring McCarthy — the flick made $100 million off a budget of about one-fifth that. It was also Falcone’s first movie.

The Happytime Murders, released in August 2018, was a flat-out bomb. The On the Day movie starring McCarthy — and puppets — barely recouped about half its budget of between $40 million to $47 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

A similar fate befell 2020’s romcom/action movie Superintelligence, which HBO Max removed from its streaming service in August, according to Variety. The same goes with 2021’s superhero comedy Thunder Force, another Falcone-directed project, which Netflix released in April of last year. (Falcone also wrote the script for the McCarthy-starring comedy.)

McCarthy’s Other Projects for On the Day

On the Day is also behind Margie Claus.

“When Santa Claus goes missing while delivering presents on Christmas Eve, his sweet wife Margie must then put together an unlikely rescue team and set off from the North Pole for the first time in decades to rescue Santa and save Christmas,” read a description on Film Jabber.

Most recently, On the Day Productions churned out the first eight episodes of the apocalyptic workplace sitcom God’s Favorite Idiot. Netflix pulled back the curtain on the first half of that season in June; when the second batch will drop isn’t yet announced.

McCarthy’s Christmas movie — or movies — drew recent reports after Love Life director Sam Boyd came on board, according to Deadline. It’s only one of the multiple projects that McCarthy has in the hopper.

She’s also working on an untitled Tinker Bell movie and an ensemble film about female cops on the Boston police force.

It’s unclear what the next On the Day-produced movie will be.

Falcone’s Other Work

As for Falcone, almost all his projects so far are listed above.

Among the others are two big-name projects that starred McCarthy and for which Falcone served as director, co-writer, and producer: 2016’s The Boss and 2018’s Life of the Party.

Falcone had a small role in 2015’s, which starred McCarthy and gained her a Golden Globe nomination. Paul Feig directed that box-office favorite, which made $235 million on a budget of $65 million. Two weeks later, he reappeared in 2017’s CHiPs — which Dax Shepard directed and wrote, and in which he starred alongside Michael Pena.

Falcone also executive produced Nobodies, a TV Land comedy starring McCarthy. Meanwhile, he and McCarthy produced another Netflix movie, Netflix’s 2021 biographical documentary Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed.

Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone’s Romance

McCarthy and Falcone famously introduced themselves to moviegoing audiences through their hilarious “Flirting with Air Marshall Jon” segments in Bridesmaids. (Watch some of the bloopers right here.)

Falcone and McCarthy started dating years before they got married in October 2005. They met through L.A. improv/sketch comedy troupe the Groundlings.

McCarthy told People, per an article published in December 2020, that they have two children who are “very funny.”

“They get out of being disciplined because they are funny,” added Falcone on the red carpet of a premiere event for The Boss. “They’ll do something [to get a laugh] and you’re like, ‘Alright, hold on, that’s not the point.’ ”

McCarthy added, according to People: “Good bit, strong bit. However, you still have to go clean up your room.’ It’s a balancing act. Kids are really smart. They pick up on everything and then you still have to not laugh in front of them as you tell them that something’s not appropriate, or something might be too aggressive. Then, when they leave the room … ”

Read More: “Julia Roberts and Richard Curtis play “Heads Up” on “Ellen” — to some embarrassing results

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