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:
