Melissa McCarthy has seen her star rocket in recent years and she is now one of the most in-demand comedy stars.
The Boss
McCarthy returns to the big screen this week as she leads the cast in The Boss, which is directed by her husband Ben Falcone; McCarthy and Falcone have also teamed up to pen the film's screenplay.
McCarthy has a very busy summer ahead of her and to celebrate the release of The Boss, we take a look back at some of her movies and how well they have performed at the box office.
- The Hangover Part III - $362 million
It was back in 2013 when The Hangover Part III was released and it was the final chapter in the popular comedy franchise.
McCarthy was one of the big new additions to the cast list as she stepped into the series for the first time in a small supporting role.
McCarthy was introduced as Cassie and starred alongside Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, John Goodman, Jeffrey Tambor, Heather Graham, and Jamie Chung. The movie also saw Todd Phillips back in the director's chair.
The movie sees the Wolfpack reunite to try and help Alan through a difficult personal time. But matters are complicated when Mr. Chow escapes from prison and is on the run. Cassie is introduced as a love interest for Alan.
While it was only a small part for McCarthy, she is a great addition to the cast list and her scenes with Galifianakis really were terrific.
The Hangover Part III was a movie that did struggle critically upon release but went on to be a box-office success, grossing $362 million. It was less than the first two films, but it easily made back it's 103 million budget.
The three films grossed over $1.4 billion at the global box office and is one of the most successful comedy franchises of all time.
- Bridesmaids - $288.4 million
Bridesmaids was to be the breakthrough film for McCarthy when it was released back in 2011. The movie marked the first collaboration between the actress and filmmaker Paul Feig - they have gone on to make four more films together.
Bridesmaids saw McCarthy star alongside Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, and Chris O'Dowd. As well as being on the cast list, Wiig teamed up with Annie Mumolo to pen the film's screenplay.
Competition between the maid of honor and a bridesmaid, over who is the bride's best friend, threatens to upend the life of an out-of-work pastry chef.
Bridesmaids was one of the best comedy movies to hit the big screen in 2011 and showed that there was a huge audience for female-driven comedy films.
McCarthy delivered a terrifically funny performance as Megan Price and went on to pick up a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. The film was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay.
Bridesmaids was a huge critical and commercial success and went on to gross $288.4 million at the global box office - it was one of the most successful comedy movies of the year.
- Spy - $235.7 million
McCarthy reunited with Feig last year for their action/comedy Spy, which saw the actress take on the lead role of a CIA analyst who goes into the field for the first time.
As well as being in the director's chair, Feig also penned the screenplay and it continued the great actor/director relationship that exists between the pair.
Spy follows Susan Cooper, a desk-bound CIA analyst who volunteers to go into the field undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent diabolical global disaster.
Feig assembled a great cast as Jude Law, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, and Allison Janney all starred alongside McCarthy.
Spy is a movie that really is a whole lost of fun and, once again, showed that McCarthy and Feig seemed to bring out the best in each other.
Spy is a mix of witty comedy as well as some great action-packed moments and McCarthy really does shine in the central role. It was great to see her turn into an action star.
The movie was a big box office success last summer as it grossed $235.7 million at the global box office, it was also a critical hit upon release.
Spy went on to be nominated for two Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for McCarthy.
- The Heat - $229.9 million
It was two years after the success of Bridesmaids that McCarthy teamed up with Feig once again for action/comedy The Heat.
The Heat was one of the big female-driven movies of summer 2013 and saw McCarthy team up with Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock for the very first time... they proved to be the perfect partnernship.
Bullock played uptight FBI officer Asburn and McCarthy was foul-mouthed Boston cop Mullins who are paired together to take down a ruthless drug lord. But the partnership does hit a few speed bumps along the way.
McCarthy and Bullock make a fantastic comedy team and proved to be one of the best movie duos of summer 2013.
The chemistry and the banter between these two women is just fantastic - hard to believe that this was scripted as it has such a spur-of-the-moment feel to it. For so long this genre of film has been seen as a boys-only club, but director Paul Feig has shown that with the right script and fantastic actresses, the girls can be just as funny and just as successful.
The Heat was another box office success of McCarthy and Feig as the film took $229.9 million worldwide - easily making back its $43 million budget.
The Heat went on to be the second highest-grossing comedy of the year, behind We're the Millers.
- Identity Thief - $174 million
Seth Gordon returned to the director's chair in 2013 for Identity Thief. This was the third feature of his career - following on from Four Christmases and Horrible Bosses and was his first collaboration with McCarthy.
Identity Thief saw McCarthy team up with Jason Bateman, who took on the central roles of Diana and Sandy. They were joined on the cast list by Jon Favreau, Amanda Peet, T.I., John Cho, and Genesis Rodriguez.
Mild-mannered businessman Sandy Patterson travels from Denver to Florida to confront the deceptively harmless-looking woman who has been living it up after stealing Sandy's identity.
Sadly, upon release, Identity Thief was a movie that struggled to win over the critics and received a wide number of negative reviews.
However, this did not stop fans turning out the see the film, which grossed $174 million by the end of its theatrical run - going on to open at number one at the U.S. box office.
The Boss is released 10th June.
Tagged in Bridesmaids Melissa McCarthy