It sounds like Basketball Wives is coming to the big screen. According to a report in a recent issue of Variety, Shaunie O’Neal—the executive producer of the VH1 reality TV series—and Jumping The Broom writer/producer Tracey Edmonds have teamed up to create a film version of Basketball Wives that will be released sometime within the next year or so through Fox Searchlight.
“The beauty of a feature film is that we’ll have the ability to dig much deeper into the stories and characters that come from this very colorful world and create a very juicy action-packed narrative,” Edmonds told Variety.
The movie won’t step on the show’s toes at all, because it reportedly will not feature Evelyn Lozado, Jennifer Williams, Royce Reed, or any of the other regulars featured on BBW. In fact, the plan is to make sure the two BBW entities are completely separate by making the movie a fictional take on some of the story lines that have developed on the BBW reality show. It’ll be scripted. It’ll feature real actors and actresses. And, it’ll allow Shaunie & Co. to give us an even more in-depth look into the life of a basketball wife.
But, not everyone is excited about this news. A lot of BBW fans think Shaunie might dilute or kill the BBW brand altogether by turning it into a feature flick. Others aren’t sure if all the drama that goes down on the small screen will translate well to the silver screen. And, everyone else is skeptical about exactly how the transition will work. Not to worry, though, BBW fans! We’re actually excited about what Shaunie has in store for us. To explain why, we put together a list of the 5 Reasons We’re Looking Forward To Shaunie O’Neal’s Basketball Wives Movie. Check them out.
1. The Basketball Wives movie will tell the stories of basketball wives as opposed to girlfriends, ex-wives, etc.
If there’s one thing that we haven’t loved about Basketball Wives, it’s that so many of the girls who have agreed to be on the show aren’t actually “wives.” They’re former girlfriends or, in some cases, even just girls who have been closely tied to athletes, and those athletes aren’t always marquee names (hi, Michael Olowokandi!). By doing BBW in movie form, Shaunie can literally write anyone into the script. She won’t be able to use real names. But, if she wants to feature, say, Kobe Bryant’s wife or LeBron James’ fiancee in the movie (under fictitious names, of course), she can. That’ll make BBW a little more true to its name and bring some much-needed star power to it.
2. The movie will provide an inside look into the lives of the wives and the husbands involved in all of the relationships.
Because a lot of the girls featured on BBW either aren’t with their significant other anymore or are dating a guy who doesn’t want to be filmed, we see a lot of what goes on with the wives and not a lot of what goes on with the guys. That’ll all change with a BBW movie. Since Shaunie can write the script however she wants, she can have the husbands of her wives featured more prominently and showcase how basketball players in relationships act around their wives. That’ll give us all a more balanced look at what goes on with real-life basketball wives.
3. The movie won’t have to rely solely on all the drama that occurs between women (although, for the record, we’re sure there will be plenty of it!).
For the most part, the reality show relies on drama. Lots and lots of drama. And, while that’s all well and good, the BBW movie can also throw in a joke or two just to make it a little bit more appealing to folks who aren’t into all of the drama that reality TV brings. We assume a movie like this would also require an ensemble cast of some sort, so it’d be nice to see a comedian or two thrown into the mix just to lighten up the mood. We’re sure it’ll still feature drama for days, but the comic relief will make more of us want to go out and see it.
4. The movie will take a closer look at some of the larger issues that occur between an athlete and his wife.
What are the issues that come to mind when you think about Basketball Wives? Issues with adultery and cheating? Issues with kids and child support? Issues with money? All of those issues can be explored more extensively through a BBW movie. That’s not to say that the movie is going to be a case study in how relationships between athletes and their significant others work. But, since we don’t get to hear much from the husbands, boyfriends, and exes on the reality show, the movie will give us a chance to see all the different dynamics of these relationships up close.
5. The movie will have a beginning, a middle, and, most importantly, an end.
The “end” of each season of the Basketball Wives TV show—if you really want to call it that—comes during a reunion special. After filming a bunch of shows together, the ladies reunite to argue, bicker, and try to work out their differences. Basically, it’s more of the same from the actual season and nothing usually gets resolved. With the movie, Shaunie will be able tie up loose ends and tell us how things turn out for all of the “wives” involved. And, after three seasons of the reality TV show, won’t that be a nice change? That’s why we can’t wait to see what Shaunie has in store for us.