The Heat may not have been the most well-received comedy movie of 2013, but it did give audiences one of the most unique pairings in recent years. While one wouldn't have necessarily thought to put Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy together, the result ended up producing a good amount of laughs. However, this wasn't the duo that was suppose to headline The Heat at first. Originally, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were intended to be the stars of the movie.
The Heat's screenwriter/producer Katie Dippold recently revealed to The Huffington Post that she actually wrote the movie with Fey and Poehler in mind for the two lead roles, thinking of them as "role models." However, director Paul Feig was interested in making a movie with Melissa McCarthy, Dippold thought back to the actress' performance in Bridesmaids and realized she was a good fit.
Had The Heat been made as originally intended, Tina Fey would have played Sandra Bullock's character FBI agent character, while Amy Poehler would have played Melissa McCarthy's police officer character. Here's how the switch went down, according to Katie Dippold:
Amy Poehler is such a great actress, and there are so many sides of her, so her as a rogue, tough cop, I thought would have been great. But then it got to Paul and he wanted Melissa, and there's no arguing that. 'Oh, sure, Melissa and Sandra Bullock?' I remember the producer, Jenno Topping, was like, 'Why don't we give Sandy a call?' And, first of all, I'd never heard 'Sandy' before, so I was like, 'Sure, let's try Sandy.' I immediately picked that up. I was psyched.
While we're curious to see how this story would have been turned out with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as the leads, putting Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy together turned out to be a good move. The Heat drew in nearly $230 million worldwide and earned decent reviews, with a lot of praise specifically directed towards Bullock and McCarthy's performances. Shortly after the buddy cop romp came out, Paul Feig said a sequel would be made, but ever since Bullock said she wouldn't return, that project has been put in permanent stasis unless the actress changes her mind. There was also talk of a spinoff starring the characters Beth and Gina, but there's been no news about it for years.
As for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, it's not like they've lacked opportunities to work together. Aside from their time on Saturday Night Live, they've appeared together in projects like Baby Mama, Anchorman: The Legend Continues and co-hosting the Golden Globes twice. Most recently, they costarred in Sisters, which scored an impressive $105 million worldwide despite facing overwhelming competition from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It's practically guaranteed we'll see them team up again in the future...well, except for on a TV series.
