Paramount Network’s update of First Wives Club has found its first and second first wives.
Jill Scott and Michelle Buteau have signed on to the show, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Girls Trip co-writer Tracy Oliver is adapting the 1996 movie and will executive produce.
First Wives Club, like the Diane Keaton-Bette Midler-Goldie Hawn movie, will follow a group of women who form a tight bond and get a little revenge on their ex-husbands. Like Paramount’s American Woman, the show will be a half-hour dramedy. It’s set to premiere in 2019.
Multiple-Grammy-nominee Scott, whose recent acting credits include Black Lightning and Lifetime’s movie Flint, will play Hazel, a music superstar who has faded from the limelight and lost some of her confidence despite still having a killer voice. When she discovers her husband and manager, Sean, has been unfaithful both personally and professionally, she’s ready to take him down and reclaim her artistic identity.
Buteau (Enlisted) will play Bree, a doctor and mom who “hasn’t let loose in years.” She’s fiercely loyal and not ready to forgive when she finds out her husband has cheated. With the help of Hazel and their friend Ari (the third lead role, yet to be cast), she’ll come out of her shell.
Oliver is executive producing First Wives Club with Karen Rosenfelt (Twilight, The Devil Wears Prada) and Scott Rudin, who produced the film.
Scott is repped by ICM Partners and Maverick Management. Buteau is repped by CAA and Mosaic.
Deadline first reported the casting.
