Melissa McCarthy To Direct Raunchy Flick 'Tammy'

Melissa McCarthy, whose big screen career has taken off in the past couple of years, is set to star in and direct the film Tammy.

McCarthy’s husband Ben Falcone, who played the air marshall she tried to seduce on the plane in Bridesmaids, will be helping her helm the project. The title character was actually McCarthy’s brainchild, and she wrote the script with Falcone. After NewLine picked it up, Beth McCarthy (no relation) was set to direct it. The project was dead after she decided to leave until McCarthy recently picked up the reigns, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Tammy will tell the story of a woman who gets fired from fast food chain Hardee’s, and concurrently finds out her husband has been cheating on her. The disgraced woman then goes on a road trip with her grandmother, a diabetic with a penchant for cursing and guzzling booze. While McCarthy will definitely be playing Tammy, it’s rumored that Shirley MacLaine could take on the role of the grandmother.

Though not yet greenlit, NewLine is looking to get the ball rolling on Tammy later this year. If McCarthy’s upcoming films, Identity Theft, which opens this weekend and The Heat with Sandra Bullock, which opens June 28, do well at the box office, it’s certain NewLine's eagerness will increase. Hopefully McCarthy will be available when the call comes, as she’s currently working on three other new projects as a producer and screenwriter.

Check out the trailer for Identity Theft below: