Following Book Club's 50 Shades Of Grey Connection Was A Real Challenge For The Next Chapter's Writer
How do you follow up 50 Shades of Grey?
When Book Club came out in 2018, it was the hilarious premise and an all-star cast that drew many people in. In the movie four lifelong friends, played by Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen, get together for book club, and they decide to read 50 Shades of Grey. What follows is a funny and heartfelt adventure of these women going on their own journeys to find love, and at the core of it is them reading the bestselling, and provocative, bestselling novel by E.L. James. When Erin Simms and Bill Holderman decided to write a sequel to Book Club, they immediately knew it would be challenging to write a follow-up and pick a book that lived up to 50 Shades, and Simms explained how they worked to create a sequel that differentiated itself from its predecessor while also having a sincere message.
In Book Club: The Next Chapter, the ladies decide to read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho -- talk about a tonal shift. The book is all about working to improve oneself and the importance of focusing on what really matters, in the movie’s case that’s love. Erin Simms told CinemaBlend that to make a worthy sequel, she figured they needed to go in a completely new direction because they wouldn’t be able to top 50 Shades. She explained:
That’s when they decided to choose The Alchemist for the next movie's focus. It’s hard to compare the two novels, because they are totally opposite in every respect, and that's part of the reason why they liked the idea. Simms continued to talk about why they decided to go with the Coelho book as the focus of the movie, saying:
Following in the footsteps of the fairly well-reviewed Book Club, the sequel on the 2023 movie schedule does take a tonal pivot by putting The Alchemist at the center of the story, and I can see why Simms felt the need to do that. By doing this the sequel succeed in diversifying itself from the first movie, but as CinemaBlend’s review of Book Club 2 explains, the philosophical book also made the movie a little tonally confusing. However, overall, they were able to successfully convey their message of taking opportunities as they come, and living life to the fullest.
To see how Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen react to 50 Shades of Grey, you can stream Book Club with a Paramount+ subscription, and to see the ladies read The Alchemist and go on an Italian adventure you can see Book Club: The Next Chapter in theaters now.
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Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite shows Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift to Fire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.