Melissa McCarthy is the Female Star of the Year

Melissa McCarthy at the Identity Thief premiere
Melissa McCarthy at the 'Identity Thief' premiere - Photo © Richard Chavez

CinemaCon’s selected Identity Thief star Melissa McCarthy as the 2013 CinemaCon Female Star of the Year. McCarthy will be awarded the honor during a special awards ceremony next month in Las Vegas. The annual gathering of motion picture theatre industry professionals will take place April 15-18th at Caesars Palace in Vegas, wrapping up with the awards ceremony on April 18th.

McCarthy was recently seen on the big screen starring opposite Jason Bateman in the road trip comedy Identity Thief. Next up, McCarthy has The Heat with Oscar winner Sandra Bullock. McCarthy plays a foul-mouthed Boston cop who joins forces with an uptight FBI Special Agent (Bullock) to take down a drug lord.

Managing Director Mitch Neuhauser announced McCarthy’s award, stating: “With an incredible comedic timing that has had audiences around the world falling out of their seats laughing, Melissa McCarthy has proven to be the new queen of comedy. With the upcoming release of The Heat, and her most recent releases Identity Thief and Bridesmaids, she has continued to prove that she is the actress to watch in Hollywood. We could not be more thrilled to be able to honor her as this year’s ‘CinemaCon Female Star of the Year.’”

“I have now had the honor to direct Ms. McCarthy in two films and am hoping to direct every frame of film she appears in from now until the sun swells and consumes the Earth,” said director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat). “I have also officially filed adoption papers to make Ms. McCarthy my daughter. That’s how wonderful she is. She also smells like very expensive flowers.”