They were a force to be reckoned with when they mixed their talents on a mid-Nineties box office hit, and now, they’re set to hit the big screen together once more.
Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton, who last teamed up on 1996’s uproarious comedy The First Wives Club, have signed on to a new, holiday-themed film, as seen in The Hollywood Reporter.
The new film is called Family Jewels, and the three stars will play the ex-wives of the same man who drops dead at the start of the movie, thereby forcing all three women to spend the Christmas holidays together along with their children and grandchildren.
The Wives return! Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton, who last teamed up on 1996’s uproarious comedy The First Wives Club, have signed on to a new, holiday-themed film; Midler seen here last November
‘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,’ New Republic principal and Family Jewels producer Bradley Fischer told THR.
‘This movie fits perfectly in our plan to finance and produce four to six major studio theatricals a year and puts movie stars back where they ought to be – on the big screen,’ said New Republic’s Brian Oliver, also a producer on the picture.
Keaton, 74, was last seen in the 2019 cheerleading comedy Poms, and in Book Club the year before that — that film, which costarred Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen, owes its very existence to First Wives Club, which practically reinvented the form when it comes to a comedy about older women getting the most out of life.
And while the new Christmas film Family Jewels might sound like a potential sequel to her brilliant 2005 hit holiday film The Family Stone, it is not related.
The Club: The new film is called Family Jewels, and the three stars will play the ex-wives of the same man who drops dead, thereby forcing all three women to spend Christmas together
They were First: The three movie stars seen in a publicity still for their 1996 box office hit The First Wives Club
Diane is also wrapping up production on a romantic comedy about wedding planners called Love, Weddings & Other Disasters.
Meanwhile, Midler — also 74 — stars in recent Sundance hit The Glorias, about the life of feminist Gloria Steinem, and is also gearing up for a fun-sounding New York City-based comedy called The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife opposite Sharon Stone.
There is still no official word on whether a long-anticipated sequel to her 1993 cult hit Hocus Pocus is indeed underway.
Bette was last seen in an appearance on the Netflix series The Politician with Gwyneth Paltrow.
Don’t mess with these three: The trio in a still from their first film together
Hawn, also 74 (the three stars were all born within six weeks of one another), is the hardest to pin down, as she has made sparing film appearances since unofficially ‘retiring’ from screen work after her team-up with Susan Sarandon for 2002’s The Banger Sisters.
In 2017, Amy Schumer succeeded in convincing Hawn to play her mother in the travel caper Snatched, but the film suffered due to a severely under-cooked script.
Aside from that, Goldie appeared opposite her life partner Kurt Russell’s Santa Claus at the very end of his 2018 Netflix movie The Christmas Chronicles, as Mrs. Claus, and will also appear in the upcoming sequel.
A great girl group: The trio of stars — who were all born within the same six weeks — are seen here rehearsing at the 69th annual Academy Awards in 1997 in Los Angeles
Still a golden girl: Keaton also presented at this year’s Oscars earlier this month, alongside her Something’s Gotta Give costar Keanu Reeves
The First Wives Club featured the three actresses as divorced women, all dealing with their good-for-nothing ex-husbands who are enmeshed with much younger women.
The empowering comedy saw each one find her power and her voice to stand up to their exes, bolstered by the support of one another.
The film featured an excellent supporting cast that included Maggie Smith, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dan Hedaya, Stockard Channing, Victor Garber, Elizabeth Berkley and Marcia Gay Harden.
As THR reports, Midler, Keaton and Hawn are also all attached to star in a new Netflix comedy called Divanation, about a singing group that reunites after a major falling out 30 years ago.
Family Jewels is gearing up to commence production later this year.
Good things come in threes: The First Wives Club was an empowering comedy that saw each star find her power to stand up for herself, bolstered by the support of one another