Anne Hathaway officially signed on to star in a film adaptation of the bestselling book "The Idea of You."
The Amazon Prime Video project shares a name with the 2017 novel by Robinne Lee. The book tells the story of the a 40-year-old mom and gallery owner who, upon accompanying her daughter to a boy band concert, ends up developing a connection with one of August Moon's bandmates.
Here's everything we know about "The Idea of You" so far.
Meet the stars of ‘The Idea of You' cast
Hathaway is the movie's leading lady — and in September 2022, the leading man was announced: Nicholas Galitzine, star of the Netflix romance "Purple Hearts" and the upcoming "Red White and Royal Blue" movie, will play Hayes.
However, several other production roles have been filled. Michael Showalter, who is known for directing films such as "The Big Sick" and "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," will direct and produce "The Idea of You." On the producing side, he'll have assistance from Hathaway, actor Gabrielle Union and the book's author Robinne Lee, among others.
When does ‘The Idea of You’ come out?
Production starts in October, according to Deadline, so it likely won’t debut until sometime in 2023. When the film does come out, it will premiere on Amazon Prime Video.
The book ‘The Idea of You’ previews the movie's plot
For a taste of the plot, head to the bestselling novel "The Idea of You." In the book, 39-year-old divorced protagonist Solène Marchand takes her daughter to meet her favorite boy band and subsequently falls for a much younger man: 20-year-old Hayes Campbell, a member of the band August Moon.
While keeping the premise, the film makes a few departures from the book. For one, the leading lady's name is now Sophie and she's 40 years old. The movie ages Hayes up, too: He's 24 in the film version.
Further, Sophie meets Hayes at Coachella in the movie, per IMdB; in the book, they meet at backstage at a concert in Las Vegas.
Is 'The Idea of You' Harry Styles fan fiction?
The book has been characterized as "Harry Styles fan fiction." But is it?
Back in 2017, Lee told blogger Deborah Kalb that novel began after she encountered the lead of a boy band on YouTube.
“A few years ago, my husband was away on business, and I was up late surfing music videos on YouTube when I came across the face of a boy I’d never seen in a band I’d never paid attention to, and it was so aesthetically perfect it took me by surprise. It was like…art. I spent a good hour or so Googling and trying to figure out who this kid was, and in doing so, I discovered that he often dated older women, and so the seed was planted,” she said.
Lee does not identify the leading man during that interview, but fans speculated she was speaking about Harry Styles. The former One Directioner, 28, is currently in a relationship with Olivia Wilde, 38, after meeting on set of her film "Don't Worry Darling."
Speaking to “Vogue“ in 2020, author Lee confirmed the novel was loosely inspired by Harry Styles of One Direction, as well as Eddie Redmayne and her real-life husband — but that it's not "fan fiction."
“This was never supposed to be a book about Harry Styles,” Lee told Vogue. “It was supposed to be a story about a woman approaching 40 and reclaiming her sexuality and rediscovering herself, just at the point that society traditionally writes women off as desirable and viable and whole.”
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