Paramount Pictures' The First Wives Club, the opening film of this year's London Film Festival, has been the first genuine post-summer hit in the US. It has spawned countless articles, including the cover of Time magazine, and is said to have broken the sacred rules of the Hollywood analysts by succeeding in an audience niche (middle-aged women) which filmmakers have overlooked in recent years. The Hollywood studios - and indeed independent producers - are now scrambling to understand how The First Wives phenomenon came about; how they can make it a global affair; and how they can hit the target again.
Starring Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton, The First Wives Club, which has a theatrical release in the UK on 15 November, has given a welcome boost to the big screen fortunes of the trio of actresses who have kept the film in the US top five for seven straight weeks, grossing a cumulative US$90 million to date after an US$18 million plus opening weekend. They are now likely to see a number of other plum roles coming their way.
The success of The First Wives Club also confirms producer Scott Rudin - hardly a household name in Britain - as the man firmly with a finger on the pulse of American taste. Recent credits include Clueless, The Firm, Sister Act, and The Addams Family, while films still to come from Rudin this year include Ron Howard's Ransom, with Mel Gibson and Albert Brooks' Mother, starring Debbie Reynolds.
Rudin, incidentally, is no stranger to London. Prior to turning to the big screen he worked with the Royal National Theatre and in the coming season will produce David Hare's Skylight, to be directed by Richard Eyre. He also produced the current Broadway smash A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum which stars Nathan Lane (The Birdcage), who will shortly be replaced by Whoopi Goldberg. CP
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