Spy (2015 film)

On June 18, 2013, it was announced that Paul Feig was developing Susan Cooper, a female spy comedy, for 20th Century Fox. Feig wrote and directed the film.[4] Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping produced the film under the Chernin Entertainment banner, with Feig and Jessie Henderson for Feigco Entertainment.[5] On November 12, 2013, Fox announced a release date of May 22, 2015.[6] On March 28, 2014, the film's title was changed to Spy.[7]

On July 25, 2013, it was confirmed that Melissa McCarthy was in negotiations to play the title role. Zooey Deschanel was originally slated to play the role of Elaine Crocker but left the project.[8] On October 17, Rose Byrne joined the cast of the film.[9] Throughout 2014, Jason Statham,[10] Jude Law,[11] Nargis Fakhri,[12] Miranda Hart,[13] Bobby Cannavale,[7] Peter Serafinowicz, Björn Gustafsson.[14] Morena Baccarin,[15] Allison Janney,[16] Zach Woods[17] and Jessica Chaffin joined the cast, along with 50 Cent, who would be playing himself,[5] and Nia Long, who did not appear in the finished film.[18]

Principal photography and production began on March 31, 2014, in Budapest, Hungary.[13][19] On May 27, filming was under way in Budapest and was about to wrap up.[20] Apart from tax breaks, shooting was primarily done in Budapest because its architecture and location could allow it to appear as other places where the story took place, including Paris.[21] A prosthetic was used for shots of Nicola (Julian Miller) exposing himself. The production team of Spy had to present prosthetics used in the shots to the MPAA for rating.

The US release of film was originally scheduled for May 22, 2015, by 20th Century Fox.[6] In March 2015, the date was pushed back to June 5, 2015, which was first assigned to B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations and Paper Towns; the former of which being taken off the schedule and cancelled, while the latter moved to July.[22] Prior to its official release, Paul Feig stated that Spy went through about 10 test screenings, a process – which includes recording the audience laughter for each version – he does "religiously", with Judd Apatow (who produced the Feig-directed Bridesmaids) commenting on its usefulness for a comedy film: "It doesn't work very well if a movie is supposed to make you feel difficult emotions. If you're making a David Lynch movie, it doesn't work at all. But for comedy it's often the best way to refine jokes."[23]

Spy was released on May 21, 2015 in Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam,[24] and of May 28, 2015 in Israel and May 29, 2015 in Norway.

Spy grossed $110.8 million in North America and $124.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $235.6 million, against a budget of $65 million.[3]

In North America, the film made $1.5 million from its early Thursday night showings[25] and an estimated $10.3 million on its opening day from 3,711 theaters, coming at second place at the box office behind fellow new release Insidious: Chapter 3.[26] It would go on to top the box office in its opening weekend, earning $29 million.[27] The film dropped 46% in its sophomore weekend to $15.6 million, finishing second behind newcomer Jurassic World.[28]

Outside North America, Spy opened in ten foreign markets on May 22, 2015, earning $12.7 million in its opening weekend from 1,810 screens, and coming in fourth place at the box office (behind Mad Max: Fury Road, Tomorrowland, and Pitch Perfect 2).[29] In the UK, Ireland and Malta, it opened with $3.9 million.[30] The film had successful openings in South Korea ($4.8 million), Russia and the CIS ($3.1 million), Australia ($2.9 million), Mexico ($1.6 million) and Taiwan ($1.3 million).[29][30]

Spy received praise for Feig's direction and screenplay, McCarthy and Byrne's performances, as well as Statham's surprise comedic role.[31][32][33][34] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 95% based on 259 reviews, with an average rating of 7.30/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Simultaneously broad and progressive, Spy offers further proof that Melissa McCarthy and writer-director Paul Feig bring out the best in one another — and delivers scores of belly laughs along the way."[35] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[36] In CinemaScore polls, audiences gave the film an average score of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[26]

McCarthy's performance was praised by critics. Richard Roeper of The Chicago Sun Times called her "as funny and as winning as anyone in the movies these days".[37] Tom Russo of The Boston Globe credited the film's success to McCarthy, writing, "part of what makes the action comedy such a loopy blast is the identity shifts she pulls on the audience."[38] Bill Goodykoontz of Arizona Republic called the film McCarthy's return to form, writing "Finally, after the promise shown in Bridesmaids, but sold short since by weak scripts in films like Tammy and Identity Thief, Melissa McCarthy gets a movie vehicle worthy of her talents."[39]

In addition to McCarthy's, many of the supporting cast members' performances were praised, particularly Byrne's and Statham's. John Boone of Entertainment Tonight said Statham "twists his action hero persona into a delightfully delusional version of the same thing", and praised Byrne's performance, writing "For every joke that McCarthy's Susan Cooper ends up as the butt of, Byrne is the one teeing it up with perfectly understated wickedness. She can so easily spit out lines as offensive as, after Cooper delivers a punny cheers, "What a stupid, f**king toast," but make it...charming?"[40] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called Byrne's comedic timing "bitchy perfection".[41]