Fifty Shades of Grey has permeated pop culture so thoroughly that last year Paramount Pictures distributed Book Club, a fun, frisky movie about a group of older women who decide to read the entire Fifty Shades trilogy. The movie did well, and now it looks like the studio wants to bring the gang back for a Book Club sequel.
Recently, actress Mary Steenburgen let the cat out of the bag while appearing on Andy Cohen’s radio show, Radio Andy. About Book Club 2, the actress said it's happening, noting,
There had been these little meetings over the years between all of us, but the stories are so incredible. And also, I love [Book Club] because I’m the baby of the group, so it’s really nice to like, for once in my life be the youngest. On Last Man on Earth and things like that I’m by far the oldest person. So, anyway, I love them and I guess we’re doing Book Club 2 because the film was incredibly successful. Yeah, it was like a huge hit. It made so much money.
Speaking to Andy Cohen, Mary Steenburgen not only dropped the news that Book Club 2 will be happening, but she also talked about why she has so much fun working with other industry veterans, including Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Diane Keaton, whom she had spent plenty of time with previously over the years.
The news is not a huge surprise, as the lower budget movie went on to become a hit and make more than $100 million worldwide.
If you missed Book Club, the general conceit was that the four actresses played characters who began reading Fifty Shades of Grey. As they introduced romance into their fictional reading, their sex lives also picked up. There are ties between Fifty Shades Freed and Book Club, as well.
In the flick, Mary Steenburgen’s character, Carol, is having trouble initiating sexual relations with her retired husband Bruce (Craig T. Nelson). As she and the book club continue into reading Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, her arc is figuring out how to get on the same page with her husband.
It’s interesting because the end of Book Club set up each of the four main characters with romantic counterparts. Plus, the gang got through all three of E.L. James’ popular books, so I’m not exactly sure where Book Club 2 could be going. I suppose they could always tackle the book from Christian Grey’s point of view or start reading E.L. James’ new title The Mister, which vaguely ties in with Fifty Shades of Grey.
Plus, there are plenty of other epic romances out there, but right now, it's not clear that will even be the direction the sequel script will go in!
Hopefully, this doesn’t mean poor Craig T. Nelson is getting killed off another project, although I’m not going to mention what TV show I’m alluding to in case you plan on watching.
But the fact that Book Club 2 is going to exist likely means some of the leading ladies, at least, did not end up getting their happily ever afters.
Oh well.
