Jennifer Lawrence can finally put her Real Housewives tagline to use. One of the world’s most famous Bravo superfans has her next movie role lined up: a murder mystery that reportedly draws on the Housewives universe. Here’s everything we know about the film so far:
It’s called The Wives.
First there were the Swans, now there are the Wives—the decades and medium of gossip may have changed but the melodrama and materialism haven’t.
Lawrence is producing the film.
In addition, Tony-nominated Slave Play creator Jeremy O. Harris (also a Bravo fan) will be producing with Josh Godfrey under their bb2 banner.
Aside from J.Law, the rest of the cast hasn’t been announced.
So far, Lawrence is the only cast member tied to the project. A marquee name like hers ensures other A-listers might be keen to join, but perhaps some real Bravolebrities will make appearances. Lawrence is (or at least, was) proudly obsessed with Bethenny Frankel and Countess Luann—or maybe that other famous Bravo superfan (and friend of Harris), Rihanna, will make a cameo.
Tilda Swinton, too, was recently spotted hanging out the Countess, leading some to wonder if perhaps she was doing research. Then again, not everything Swinton does is easily explainable, so that’s just a dream theory at the moment.
The Wives is a murder mystery.
The film, which was acquired by Apple Original Films in a “highly competitive situation,” is still in development, so there’s no plot points yet, aside from it being a murder mystery. This brings to mind the 1920s-themed murder mystery party Dorinda threw at her infamous (and possibly haunted) Berkshires home, Blue Stone Manor, during RHONY’s tenth season. There were no actual deaths in that episode, except for hope of Carole and Bethenny’s reconciliation.
It’s written by Pulitzer Prize finalists.
The Wives was cooked up by Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley, who wrote the 2020 Pulitzer Prize finalist play, Circle Jerk. Set on “Gaymen Island,” the viral comedy featured many Housewives-esque motifs, including internet trolls, off-season vacations, and diabolical plotting (Receipts! Proof! Timelines! Screenshots!).
Harris was also a producer of Circle Jerk, and a longtime collaborator of Breslin and Foley. He also produced the duo’s 2021 play This American Wife, which—you guessed it—was a sort of meta-commentary on the Real Housewives and the tropes of the format. Since breaking out with Slave Play, Harris has been clear about his desire to merge the worlds of theater and film, and it looks like this is a major step towards achieving that goal.
