Oscar-nominated actress, writer and producer Melissa McCarthy has been named as CinemaCon’s Cinema Vérité Award recipient for 2023.
The NATO convention’s awarding of the prize at its Big Screen Achievement Awards ceremony, taking place at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas the night of April 27th, comes a little less than a month ahead of the release of Disney’s new live-action take on The Little Mermaid, from filmmaker Rob Marshall, which has McCarthy playing the sea witch, Ursula.
Others to be honored alongside the multi-hyphenate include Oppenheimer‘s Christopher Nolan & Emma Thomas, who will receive the NATO Spirit of the Industry Award; the cast of Lionsgate’s Joy Ride, which will accept the Comedy Ensemble of the Year Award; the Dune franchise’s Zendaya, who has been set for the Star of the Year Award; and the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts duo of Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback, who will claim the Rising Stars of the Year Award.
“Melissa McCarthy has had audiences around the world howling in the theaters with such unforgettable performances in films like Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy and has left them on the edge of their seats with her memorable roles in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and St. Vincent to name just a few,” said CinemaCon’s Managing Director, Mitch Neuhauser. “Her upcoming turn in the iconic role of Ursula is sure to entertain audiences across the globe and we couldn’t be more honored to present her with this year’s CinemaCon Cinema Vérité Award.”
McCarthy is joined in The Little Mermaid by Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay, Noma Dumezweni, Art Malik and Javier Bardem. The film opening in theaters nationwide on May 26th, which has Bailey portraying the titular character Ariel, features music from Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, along with new lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Recently appearing in Thor: Love and Thunder and Hulu’s starry miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers, McCarthy also is part of the ensemble of Jerry Seinfeld’s feature directorial debut Unfrosted — a comedic feature for Netflix, charting the origins of the Pop-Tart. Also coming up for her is Richard Curtis’ untitled New York Christmas comedy for Peacock, in which she stars opposite I May Destroy You’s Paapa Essiedu.
This year’s edition of CinemaCon will take place at Caesars Palace from April 24-27.
