You Don't Own Me, but the Upcoming First Wives Club Reboot Certainly Will
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When it was released over two decades ago, The First Wives Club taught viewers many valuable lessons: there's strength in numbers, window-cleaning is best left to the professionals, and — say it with me now — you don't own me. To no surprise, the iconic 1996 movie, which starred Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton, is being turned into a modern-day series for Paramount Network.
With filming beginning this Fall, the project still appears to be in the early stages; however, the basic premise was recently revealed, along with the three leading ladies. Also set in New York City, First Wives Club will follow three women of different careers and backgrounds — Ari, Bree, and Hazel — dealing with the aftermath of their respective splits. Jill Scott will be portraying Hazel, Michelle Buteau will portray Bree, and Ryan Michelle Bathe will play Ari.
Ahead, learn all about the latest nostalgic reboot coming down the production pipeline.
The Cast
Jill Scott might primarily be known for her music, but the multihyphenate previously appeared in Why Did I Get Married?, Get on Up, and The CW's Black Lightning. In First Wives Club, she'll take on the role of Hazel, a once-famous singer who has since lost her spark partly due to her troubling relationship with her husband — who is also her manager.
First Wives Club will be the first major starring television role for stand-up comedian Michelle Buteau, who previously appeared on Key & Peele and Broad City. She will portray Bree, a mom and doctor trying to balance all of the responsibility that both of those roles require. Bree's world is suddenly changed upon finding out that her husband has had an affair.
Bathe is best known for her roles on Army Wives and This Is Us, which she costarred on with her husband, Sterling K. Brown. She most recently appeared as Celeste on the fourth season of Empire. On First Wives Club, she will portray Ari, a confident attorney with an incredible fashion sense. After putting her career on hold to advance her husband's political career and raise their two children, she will eventually use her wit and knowledge to help her college friends reclaim their independence.
The Production Team
Tracy Oliver will write and executive produce the reboot. She recently cowrote 2017's hugely successful Girls Trip. The Twilight franchise's Karen Rosenfelt will also serve as an executive producer alongside Scott Rudin, who produced the original First Wives Club.
The Release Date
Filming will begin in the Fall, and the series is set to premiere sometime in 2019.