Book Club: The Next Chapter is a 2023 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Bill Holderman. It serves as a sequel to Book Club (2018). The film stars Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Giancarlo Giannini, Andy García, and Don Johnson.

Book Club: The Next Chapter was released in the United States on May 12, 2023, by Focus Features. The film received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $27 million worldwide.

Plot

The four friends in the book club finally meet in person after COVID-19 forced them to switch their monthly meetings to Zoom calls. Vivian reveals her engagement to Arthur, and the four friends take a bachelorette trip to Italy culminating in a destination wedding in Tuscany. The four enjoy their stay in Rome, sightseeing, man watching and shopping for Vivian's wedding gown. A street artist assures them a trip to Venice is a must for tourists, so they take a train, not realizing the “porters” at the station are thieves who steal their luggage. 

Diane loses the urn containing her deceased husband’s ashes, which she has illegally brought into the country. Vivian’s hotel connections get them nice accommodations in Venice. In a bar Sharon meets Ousmane, a retired philosophy professor who invites the foursome to dinner. The venue turns out to be famed Chef Gianni’s cooking school, and he seems to make a play for Carol, whose husband Bruce is back in California recovering from a heart attack. The foursome rent a car to drive to Tuscany, but it breaks down, forcing them to hitchhike. 

When a policeman happens by, Vivian thinks he’s a male stripper and that lands them in the local jail, where Sharon goads a prickly police chief into getting them to Vivian’s wedding via helicopter. The police chief has recovered Diane’s urn, so she scatters her husband's ashes en route. Arthur and Mitchell (his best man, and Diane’s boyfriend) are waiting, and Carol is surprised by Bruce's appearance. The wedding involves reversals. The four friends realize their current book, The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho, predicts their lives more than they expected it to.

Cast

Production 
In May 2022, Variety announced that Book Club 2: The Next Chapter, began production with Keaton, Fonda, Bergen, Steenburgen, Garcia, Johnson, and Nelson reprising their roles from the first film. Production occurred over the course of two months in Italy, including 10 days in Venice.

Focus Features replaced Paramount Pictures as distributor in the United States, with Universal Pictures distributing in other markets.

Release

Book Club: The Next Chapter was released in theatres on May 12, 2023 by Focus Features. It was available for streaming exclusively on the streaming service Peacock on June 30, 2023.

Reception

Box office 
, Book Club: The Next Chapter has grossed $17.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $10.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $27.9 million.

In the United States and Canada, Book Club: The Next Chapter was released alongside Hypnotic, and was projected to gross $7–10 million from 3,507 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $2.1 million on its first day, including $550,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $6.4 million, finishing third behind holdovers Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The below-expectations opening was blamed in part on a lack of demand for a sequel to the first film, as well as older females (which made up 48% of the audience) being hesitant to return to theaters since the COVID-19 pandemic. The film made $3 million in its second weekend, finishing in fourth.

Critical response 
  Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale (down from the first film’s “A-“), while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 81% positive score, with 55% saying they would definitely recommend it.

References

External links 
 

2023 films
2023 romantic comedy films
2020s female buddy films
2020s American films
2020s English-language films
Films about the COVID-19 pandemic
Films set in the 2020s
Films set in Italy
Films set in Rome
Films set in New York City
Films about old age
American sequel films