Bette Midler Says Movie That Would Reunite The First Wives Club Stars Is in ‘Development Hell’ (Exclusive)

‘The Family Jewels’ was set to feature Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton, who all starred in the 1996 hit ‘The First Wives Club’

The First Wives Club sadly never got a sequel, but the movie’s stars — Bette Midler, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn— had hoped to reunite on another comedy called The Family Jewels.

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

“It’s in the abyss where all good scripts go to die,” adds Midler, who says the film had been in the works for years.

“Fifteen years is the time limit, I think. When it’s been in development for 15 years, you kind of throw up your hands,” says Midler.

Asked if she’s hopeful it will come to fruition, Midler is pessimistic: “No, no, no,” she says.

PEOPLE did not immediately hear back from a representative for producer Bradley Fischer, who announced the movie four years ago.

According to IMDb, the plot of the comedy centers around three women, who were all once married to the same man, as they are forced to spend the holidays together with the kids and grandkids after their ex dies.

Bette Midler Had No Idea ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ Would Be a Smash Hit: ‘We Didn’t Know What We Had’ (Exclusive)

Midler told PEOPLE after the film was announced that she and Hawn and Keaton were eager to make the movie, but hinted about an uphill battle. 

“I think it’s funny. When women get together, they laugh harder with each other than they do with men,” she said. “I don’t know what it is. 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 make all the pieces fit,” 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 in order so that people will enjoy the picture. Without a great script, you really don’t have anything. So, we’re sort of waiting for that to come in.”

In 2022, Midler told PEOPLE how disappointed she was that The First Wives Club, in which Midler, Hawn and Keaton played former college pals Brenda, Elise and Annie, who get revenge on the men who wronged them, never got a sequel. The 1996 hit was based on the novel by Olvia Goldsmith.

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

Midler has been itching to make another buddy comedy for some time. “I enjoy them, especially the ones that are really well-made,” says the performer. 

When The Fabulous Four came along with How to Make an American Quilt director Joceyln Moorhouse attached, Midler signed on. “I’ve liked her work for a long, long time. I’ve followed her, and I think she’s tremendous,” she explains.

Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullally and Sheryl Lee Ralph Star in The Fabulous Four First Look (Exclusive)

The comedy stars Midler as a self-involved widow who reunites with a group of old friends (played by Susan Sarandon, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Megan Mullally) when they travel to Key West, Fla., for her wedding. 

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

The Fabulous Four opens in theaters July 26.