Melissa McCarthy in Talks to Team With Heated Rivalry Breakout Connor Storrie for Upcoming Thriller Turpentine

Melissa McCarthy moves fast for someone who made her name stealing scenes and snacks in Bridesmaids. After years of being typecast as the go-to funny woman, she’s gotten into the habit of picking dramatic stuff that...actually works. Remember her in Can You Ever Forgive Me? The Academy did. And if you missed it, she’s about to play Patsy Ramsey in a limited series about the JonBenét Ramsey case, with Clive Owen as the dad. So, yeah, comedy may pay the bills, but the serious work is stacking up.

And now, McCarthy’s shopping for something even darker. The Playlist says she's currently negotiating to star in a new thriller called Turpentine, directed by Craig Zobel. In case that name isn’t ringing any bells: Zobel’s been busy making the grimmest corners of television for HBO — Mare of Easttown, Westworld, The Leftovers, plus the upcoming Penguin show. On the movie side, he's responsible for The Hunt and Z for Zachariah.

Here’s the setup for Turpentine:

• Some loser son, desperate for cash to pay off his bookie, ropes his friends in to rob his own parents. Spoiler: "disastrous results" follow.

The script comes from Justin Varava (it even made the Black List — always a good sign). Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman are set to produce with their company T-Street, joined by ShivHans Pictures. T-Street’s slate has been getting some attention lately, with credits like Wake Up Dead Man, American Fiction, Fair Play, Snack Shack, and the short-lived Poker Face series for Peacock. Yes, that Rian Johnson.

On the co-star front, Connor Storrie is set to share the screen with McCarthy. If you haven’t heard that name, it probably means you’re not up on Heated Rivalry, the buzzy series where Storrie shares top billing with Hudson Williams. Those two are apparently inseparable right now — they’ve got another project cooking called Ember & Ice, which is an audio erotica mini-series built around two feuding fae princes who may or may not hate-love each other. Or, as the press release puts it:

To sum it up: McCarthy keeps finding credible ways to get away from broad comedy, the new project sounds like a juicy character-based thriller (with a solid pedigree behind the camera), and her new possible co-star is definitely one to watch if you’re rooted in the indie/drama TV world. Keep your eyes out for official casting news — it’ll be interesting to see McCarthy and Storrie bounce off each other in something this dark.