SuperintelligencemarksMelissa McCarthy’s fourth collaboration with husbandBen Falconeserving as director. It all began with his feature directorial debut, 2014’sTammy. After that it wasThe BossandLife of the Party, and now they’re digging into some new challenges with film four,Superintelligence.
The movie stars McCarthy as Carol Peters, a woman who ditches the corporate world in hopes of having a positive impact on the world. The thing is though, Carol isn’t exactly stepping up to the plate in a big way, and that’s why she’s targeted by an AI (James Corden) trying to learn more about the human race; it picks her because Carol is average. Now Carol has just three days to prove to the AI that people are worth saving.
WithSuperintelligencehitting HBO Max on November 26th, I got the chance to chat with McCarthy and Falcone about their experience making the film. The duo spoke about the new techniques they put to use, how McCarthy knows Falcone is loving a take on set and they also took a moment to address a certain something about McCarthy’s filmography - she’s actually never reprised a role for a sequel. Yes, she was inThe Hangover 3, but McCarthy has yet to play the same character twice, a surprising thing for an artist with a resume down to the floor who’s working in an industry that loves franchises.
McCarthy did admit that she usually grows attached to characters. “I have a weird thing with that because I fall wonderfully and terribly in love with the women I get to play.” She continued, “I do really feel like I get to know them and then I miss them and I feel like I still have to kind of stand and defend for them.” McCarthy went on to highlight two specific projects with sequel potential - one that’s truly been discussed and the other involving a character she thinks about a lot:
“We’ve talked about a bunch of times doing another one ofSpy, just because it was such a fun group. That would be so incredibly fun. I do sometimes think, where is Tammy now? What’s Tammy doing? I would love to know how she’s doing, I strangely really think about that sometimes. I’ve been lucky enough to do a lot of people that I really, really love and I think if the story was just and really honest, I’m not against a sequel. I actually really like what’s happening more now than ever that people do it 10, 15 years later. I think that, when you really are like, ‘Yeah, that’s a long time. Where is that character now? Is it up or down?’ That I think could be a cool story to tell.”
As for my personal request for anotherThe Heatmovie, McCarthy was mighty enthusiastic about the idea; “I would do that in a heartbeat! Set it up!” “I’d do 2, 3 and 4 ofThe Heattomorrow!”
If you’d like to hear more from McCarthy and Falcone, check out our full conversation at the top of this article!
Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone:
