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After playing second fiddle in a half-dozen studio movies ranging from Ghostbusters to Office Christmas Party, SNL standout Kate McKinnon is ready to become a leading lady with Lionsgate‘s action comedy THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME, which will likely pair her with Bad Moms star Mila Kunis, the Tracking Board has confirmed.
Susanna Fogel will direct from a script she co-wrote with former SNL scribe David Iserson. Brian Grazer will produce under his Imagine Entertainment banner, while Lionsgate will distribute the movie after acquiring the project in a competitive situation.
McKinnon and Kunis will play best friends who discover that one of their ex-boyfriends was a spy. When he’s killed in the middle of a mission, they decide to take up the cause and finish it.
Fogel made her feature directorial debut with the indie movie Life Partners, which starred Gillian Jacobs and Leighton Meester, and featured McKinnon in a supporting role. She stole scenes in that film, just as she did in Ghostbusters, and with her SNL skits routinely going viral, it’s clear she has earned the chance to be front and center in a studio comedy.
Kunis is an equally talented comedienne, having starred on That ’70s Show before conquering the big screen with Bad Moms last summer. Hopefully she’ll be able to fit The Spy Who Dumped Me into her schedule, since Lionsgate reportedly aims to start filming this summer.
However, A Bad Moms Christmas is slated for release this November, and production starts in early May, so Kunis would have to shoot them back-to-back. I hope these two projects don’t run into each other, because it’d be a shame if Lionsgate lost Kunis to a scheduling conflict.
Lionsgate executives Peter Kang and Geoff Shaevitz will oversee the project for the studio, while Imagine execs Erica Huggins and Julie Oh, will oversee on behalf of the production company.
McKinnon will soon be seen playing one of Scarlett Johansson’s besties in Sony’s raunchy comedy Rough Night. She’s represented by UTA and Principato-Young Entertainment, while Kunis is repped by CAA and Curtis Talent Management.
Fogel, who also wrote and executive produced the ABC Family series Chasing Life, is repped by UTA and Lighthouse Media & Management.
Iserson has penned episodes of Mad Men, Mr. Robot, Mozart in the Jungle and Graves. He’s repped by UTA and 3 Arts Entertainment.
Jeff Sneider | Editor in Chief
