Melissa McCarthy & Tiffany Haddish Will Star in Mob Wife Drama The Kitchen

In one of the most exciting and unexpected casting announcements so far this year, Deadlinereports that Melissa McCarthy has been cast alongside Tiffany Haddish in The Kitchen, a gritty drama that centers around the lives of Mafia leaders in New York City in the 70s.

The Kitchen will mark the directorial debut of Andrea Berloff, who received a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton. Berloff wrote the new script based off of a 2014 comic by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle for DC's Vertigo.

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McCarthy and Haddish will play mob wives who must assume their husband's position in the family business after an FBI sweep captures several Mafia leaders. They'll prove to be even more ruthless than the men they've replaced. It's an unusual film for such a major studio--the film is being produced in partnership with New Line Cinema and DC Entertainment.

Both Haddish and McCarthy have mostly stuck to comedy so far--the former won the New York Film Critics' Circle's Best Supporting Actress award for her role in Girls Trip, and McCarthy scored an Oscar nom for 2011's Bridesmaids.