Bettle Midler Gives Update on ‘First Wives Club’ Reunion Movie (Exclusive)

The Devil’s Club Unfortunately, there was never a sequel, but the film’s stars – Bette Midler, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn – had hoped to star in another comedy called The family jewels.

Unfortunately, the film, which was first announced in 2020, is in “development hell,” Midler tells PEOPLE.

“All good scripts die in the abyss,” adds Midler, who says the film was years in the making.

“Fifteen years is the deadline in my opinion. If the development has taken 15 years, you just give up,” says Midler.

When asked whether she had any hope that the project would come to fruition, Midler was pessimistic: “No, no, no,” she said.

PEOPLE did not receive an immediate response from a representative for producer Bradley Fischer, who announced the film four years ago.

According to IMDb, the comedy’s plot revolves around three women who were all once married to the same man and who, after the death of their ex, are forced to spend the holidays together with their children and grandchildren.

Midler told PEOPLE after the film’s announcement that she, Hawn and Keaton were keen to make the movie, but hinted that the fight to do so would be uphill.

“I think it’s funny. When women get together, they laugh more with each other than with men,” she said. “I don’t know why. I guess they feel freer or something like that.” Family jewels is something that people have been working on. Sometimes you get stuck in the scriptwriting process and things don’t work out.”

“It’s an effort. It’s an effort to put all the pieces together,” she continued. “It’s not that we don’t want to do it. We all want to do it. We’re just trying to get the script right so that people can enjoy the movie. Without a great script, you really have nothing. So we’re kind of waiting for it to come along.”

In 2022, Midler told PEOPLE how disappointed she was that The Devil’s Clubin which Midler, Hawn and Keaton played former college friends Brenda, Elise and Annie who seek revenge on the men who wronged them, was never continued. The 1996 hit was based on the novel by Olivia Goldsmith.

“There were political reasons why they didn’t want to do it again. And it always broke my heart,” Midler said at the time. “I really felt like it was a pretty serious insult, because when women have hits, it’s a fluke. But when men have hits, isn’t that great?”

Midler has been itching to make another buddy comedy for some time. “I like them, especially the ones that are really well done,” says the actor.

When The Fabulous Four came with How to make an American quilt Director Jocelyn Moorhouse committed, and Midler signed on. “I’ve loved her work for a long, long time. I’ve followed her and I think she’s great,” she explains.

In the comedy, Midler plays a self-centered widow who meets a group of old friends (played by Susan Sarandon, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Megan Mullally) when they travel to Key West, Florida for their wedding.

Old rivalries resurface and the strength of some bonds is tested.

The Fabulous Four will be in theaters on July 26th.

For more information about Bette Midler, see the new issue of PEOPLE.