Melissa McCarthy, ‘Heated Rivalry’ actor slated to join Atlanta-shot film

Comic actor Melissa McCarthy and “Heated Rivalry” star Connor Storrie are expected to join a crime thriller shooting next month in Atlanta.

According to local crew union IATSE 479, the film “Turpentine” is set to shoot in Atlanta from May 11 to June 25. Though the movie will use Electric Owl Studios for offices and wardrobe, all shooting will be on location and not on stages.

Deadline said McCarthy and Storrie are slated to star in the movie, which follows a deadbeat son who hires friends to rob his own parents to pay off a bookie, with disastrous results.

McCarthy has shot several films in metro Atlanta and even resided in Atlanta for a time. Over eight years, she shot “Identity Thief,” “The Boss,” “Life of the Party,” “Superintelligence” and “Thunder Force,” which finished filming just before the COVID-19 pandemic,

She recently made a surprise appearance during “Saturday Night Live” earlier this month when Jack Black hosted.

Storrie, who hosted “SNL” in February, is a hot commodity after the breakout success of HBO Max’s “Heated Rivalry” series about gay hockey players.

Georgia film and TV production has settled into a much slower pace than the heyday of the late 2010s and early 2020s, but the state is still getting some business. Bigger projects currently in production include Netflix’s “Scooby Doo: Origins” live-action series, the newest DC “Superman” movie and the Judd Apatow film “Comeback King,” which is filming in Savannah and Macon.