‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Meets ‘Broadcast News’ In New Emma Thompson & Mindy Kaling Comedy
For the past five years,Mindy Kalinghas been writing a pretty good role for herself withThe Mindy Project. She’s been keeping busy with the Hulu comedy, but lately, she’s been lining up some high-profile acting gigs, includingAva DuVernay’sadaptation ofA Wrinkle in TimeandGary Ross’Ocean’s 11 spinoffOcean’s 8. The actress, writer, and producer has just created another impressive job for herself: co-starring in a movie withEmma Thompson.
Below, learn more about the new Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson comedy.
The untitled film would star Thompson as a veteran late-night talk show host. The host is “in danger of losing her long-running show right when she hires her first female writer,” played by Kaling. Kaling’s story is described as a mix ofThe Devil Wears PradaandBroadcast News(not a bad combination).Varietyreports the comedy doesn’t have a studio attached, but Kaling’s script is expected to launch a bidding war. Already several bidders are interested in the package. The untitled film would star Thompson as a veteran late-night talk show host. The host is “in danger of losing her long-running show right when she hires her first female writer,” played by Kaling. Kaling’s story is described as a mix ofThe Devil Wears PradaandBroadcast News(not a bad combination).
Kaling,Howard Klein, andScott Rudinare producing the film. Rudin, of course, is the powerhouse producer behindThe Social Network,Inside Llewyn Davis, and plenty of other familiar titles. He currently hasDenzel Washington’sadaptation ofFencesandTodd Fields’Showtime seriesPuritycoming up. Kaling has been collaborating with Howard Klein for years. Klein, who’s also Kaling’s manager, has worked as an executive producer onJessica Jones,Parks and Recreation,The Office, andThe Mindy Project.
This project is good news, for Kaling’s fans and, most notably, herself. There’s plenty of instances of Kaling praising Thompson in the past. She called the Thompson-scripted adaptation ofSense & Sensibilityone of herfavorite movies, and she cited the writer and actress' work on that film as a major inspiration. She once toldTHR:
[After seeingSense & Sensibility] I had to look up what [adapted screenplay] meant, and thought, “That’s what I want to do.”
The fact that Kaling now gets to act with and write for an idol of hers is, without question, pretty damn neat. Plus, Thompson has great comedic timing onscreen. To see and hear her bring some of Kaling’s writing to life could be incredibly funny, especially with Kaling co-starring. She hasn’t starred in any studio movies, butThe Mindy Projectproves time and time again she’s more than capable of playing a leading role.
