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Paul Feig & Emma Thompson Team Up For Last Christmas
Paul Feig and Emma Thompson are joining forces on an original holiday romance film titled Last Christmas. Feig has made his name as the go-to male director for comedies starring women over the past several years, starting with his breakout hit Bridesmaids in 2011. Since then, Feig has called the shots on the Melissa McCarthy-led action/comedy hits The Heat and Spy, as well as the Ghostbusters movie reboot (which reunited him with McCarthy and her Bridesmaids costar Kristen Wiig yet again).
Feig will try his hand at something a little different later this year, when he releases the mystery/thriller A Simple Favor, starring Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick. The filmmaker isn't done branching out as a storyteller, either, and will follow-up up that movie with the romance Last Christmas, which is based on a script that Thompson cowrote with Bryony Kimmings (a relative unknown).
THR reports that Last Christmas is a romance set in London, but doesn't have any plot details to offer beyond that. Feig is set to direct the movie with Thompson producing, in addition to serving as cowriter. There's nothing in THR's article that suggests Thompson also plans to costar in the film, but seeing as Feig nearly directed her in the upcoming comedy Late Night (which Mindy Kaling wrote and costars in), it's certainly a possibility.
Thompson has picked up Oscars for both her acting and writing in the past, and has remained active as a performer/screenwriter of late. Over the past eight years alone, Thompson has written and costarred in three movies, including the kid-friendly sequel Nanny McPhee Returns, historical romance/drama Effie Gray, and romantic comedy sequel Bridget Jones's Baby. She also has roles in upcoming films like Johnny English Strikes Again and the Robert Downey Jr.-headlined Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, along with Late Night.
All things considered, Last Christmas sounds promising already, regardless of whether Thompson acts in the film or works strictly behind the camera. Similarly, as is the case with A Simple Favor, it's good to see Feig moving beyond broad comedies as a director, while at the same time remaining committed to telling stories written by and focused on women. If all goes well, Last Christmas may even prove to be a heartwarming flick worth revisiting over the winter holidays for years to come.
