‘First Wives Club’ Alums Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler & Diane Keaton Call Another Meeting With The Comedy ‘Family Jewels’
The First Wives ClubmembersGoldie Hawn, Bette Midler, andDiane Keatonare calling another meeting to order with a silver screen reunion in the comedyFamily Jewels.New Republic Pictures won the rights toFamily Jewels, a multigenerational family comedy that will reunite Hawn, Midler, and Keaton 24 years after they co-starred in the 1996 comedyThe First Wives Club.Deadlinereports that New Republic Pictures has won the rights for Peter Hoar’s pitchFamily Jewels, which follows Hawn, Midler and Keaton’s characters as they “are forced to spend the Christmas holidays together, along with their kids and grandkids, after the man they were all once married to drops dead in a New York City department store.”
It sounds like a fitting follow-up toThe First Wives Club, which first brought the comedy legends on the big screen together in a Hugh Wilson-directed comedy about three divorced women who seek revenge on their husbands who all left them for younger women. But this time inFamily Jewels, they are all bosom buddies, having all been formally married to the same man. It doesn’t have quite the “women form a revenge super-team together” flair thatThe First Wives Clubdid, but will give us the opposite: the joy of watching Hawn, Midler, and Keaton snipe at each other.
“The chemistry of Diane, Bette and Goldie is unmatched and irresistible, and I’m thrilled to help reunite them on screen for generations of fans,” said New Republic’s Bradley Fischer, who produces the film alongside Brian Oliver and Alan Nevins. Tracey Nyberg will executive produce. Hoar will write the screenplay for the film, which is eying a production start this year.
There was nothing like watchingThe First Wives Cluband seeing Midler, Hawn, and Keaton together at their comedy primes. The prospect of seeing them reunite and exert that same chaotic energy is exciting, though I hope it won’t be as phoned in as recent comedies starring older actresses. It’s sad that roles dry up so quickly for actresses in Hollywood as they age — the whole premise ofFirst Wives Clubwas based around women who were supposedly “over the hill” wreaking their revenge — but this news does give hope that Midler, Hawn and Keaton can still get great roles.
