Melissa McCarthyis bringing the magic — and laughs — this holiday season.
The firsttrailerforGeniedebuted Wednesday, showing the Oscar nominee, 53, as the titular wish-granter, emerging from an antique jewelry box at Christmastime to a very different world than the one she remembers.
In the trailer, Genie befriends the down-on-his-luck Bernard Bottle (Paapa Essiedu), who summoned her.
“This is just a triangle of red bread,” Genie says after Bernard asks her to conjure up a pizza. But, after trying it, she immediately changes her tune: “Wait an ever-loving minute! This is heaven.”
Later in the trailer, she gives a glimpse into the growth the characters experience together. “Years from now, I want you to remember you’re the very best friend I’ve ever had,” she tells Bernard through tears.
Curtis and director Sam Boyd (In a Relationship,Love Life) toldEntertainment Weeklyabout the holiday film, which the latter described as a “glorious mashup” of McCarthy’s classic comedy and Curtis’ emotional punch.
“I love improvisation, but of course it has to work within the parameters of the story you’re telling, and its tone," Boyd toldEW.
Melissa McCarthy and Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu star as Genie and Bernard Bottle in ‘Genie.’.
He continued, “The whole thing was really this huge collaboration, where we were working within a few different traditions, running parallel — the tradition of the Christmas movie, of the Richard Curtis movie, of the Melissa McCarthy movie — and the hope is that the final product is a glorious mashup of them all.”
Curtis echoed the director, adding that McCarthy’s influence on the film is undeniable.
When asked if he wrote the role of Genie with theSpyactress in mind, he said, “The answer is staggered because I wrote it and then we cast Melissa, and then I paid a lot of attention to it being Melissa and also worked with Melissa on the script."
“The truth is it was a written character and then in production and particularly pre-production, we bent it toward Melissa a lot.”
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Melissa McCarthy in ‘Genie.’.
TheLove Actuallywriter also revealed he set the film in New York City because it is “particularly magical around Christmas” and reflected on why his films often take place around the holiday.
“I’ve been thinking about it more and more,” he toldEW. “Christmas has always been very happy for me, and I like it as a deadline. It’s the clearest deadline in the year.”
“InGenie, it’s like a ticking clock. And then there are all sorts of tropes that you can take advantage of. It’s the most famous week of the year with the most things connected to it. So it’s to do with stuff you can play with, as well as generally a time for joy and a very useful deadline.”
Geniewill be is on Peacock Nov. 22.
source: people.com
