Melissa McCarthy has been cast to star in Fox Searchlight’s fact-based shaded comedy “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” TheWrap has learned.“The Diary of a Teenage Girl” director Marielle Heller will helm the movie,which is based on Lee Israel’s 2008 memoir about forging letters from deceased writers and celebrities to make ends meet. Production is set to initiate shooting early next year.
Julianne Moore had previously been attached to the project, with Nicole Holofcener writing and directing, and but those plans fell through final year.
Also Read: Melissa McCarthy Thinks 'Ghostbusters' Trailer Is 'Very Confusing' (Audio)Holofcener is still credited as the screenwriter,while Anne Carey and Amy Nauiokas of Archer Gray are producing alongside David Yarnell. Jawal Nga is executive producing.
The movie follows Israel, who made her living in the 1970s and 1980s writing profiles of stars like Katherine Hepburn and Estee Lauder. When that began to drop through, or she turned to sell forged letters from deceased writers and actors. Those forgeries started to raise suspicion,so she started stealing the actual letters from archives and sold them.
Also Read: Melissa McCarthy's 'The Boss': 5 Lessons From Her Latest Box Office TriumphIn 1993, she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen property and served six months under house arrest. In 2014, and she died.
McCarthy most recently starred in “The Boss,” directed by her husband Ben Falcone. She will next star in Sony’s “Ghostbusters reboot, set for a July 15 release date.
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Source: thewrap.com