Paramount Network Orders 'First Wives' Club' Remake

The Paramount Network gave a full season order to a series based on The First Wives Club before [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

The Paramount Network gave a full season order to a series based on The First Wives Club before the project has even been cast.

According to Deadline, the basic cable network put in a 10-episode order, with hopes of premiering the show in 2019. It will be filmed in New York.

Back on April 5, Paramount ordered a pilot, written by Girls Trip co-writer Tracy Oliver, who will also executive produce. Scott Rudin, who produced the 1996 movie, will executive produce with Karen Rosenfelt (Twilight, The Devil Wears Prada).

The film starred Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler, who played three divorced women seeking revenge on their husbands after they married younger women. It was based on a 1992 novel by Olivia Goldsmith. The TV version is expected to feature a diverse cast.

"Tracy Oliver is a brilliant writer and the perfect visionary to bring this unforgettable story from the big screen to the small screen in a fresh and contemporary way," Keith Cox, President, Development and Production, Paramount Network, TV Land and CMT, said in a statement.

"So excited to announce my First Wives Club pilot was officially picked up!!! Honored to bring these dynamic women to the small screen!!!" Oliver wrote on Twitter on April 5.

This is not the first attempt at a TV version of The First Wives Club. As TV Line points out, it was originally in development at TVLand in 2016. That version starred Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother), Vanessa Lachey (Dads) and Megan Hilty (Smash), but never got past the pilot.

"Girls Trip was one of the funniest comedies in recent memory and we know Tracy will breathe new life, and some serious laughs, into these beloved First Wives Club characters," Amy Powell, President of Paramount TV, said.

Paramount Network was previously known as SpikeTV before being re-branded in January 2018. Many of the network's projects are based on Paramount properties, including Heathers, which debuted on March 7. The network's first original series to air was the Western miniseries Waco.

Last week, Deadline reported that Paramount Network is developing I Know Who You Are, based on the 2017 Spanish limited series Sé quién eres. The American version is being written by Steven Kane (The Last Ship) and directed by David Semel (Star Trek: Discovery). The original Spanish series was created by Pau Freixas for Telecino and is a missing-persons crime thriller about a journalist accused of kidnapping his niece.

Paramount also made a splashy move to air original episodes of Roseanne while ABC airs the successful reboot.

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