Move over superheroes and video game adaptations; Colleen Hoover books are the new big property in demand.Following the incredible box office success ofIt Ends with Usearlier this summer, studios and stars have been securing the rights to other books from the controversial author. One of those names isAnne Hathaway, who will star in an adaptation of Hoover’s 2018 thrillerVerity.
Deadlinereports that Anne Hathaway will star in an adaptation ofVerityfrom director Michael Showalter and Amazon MGM Studios. The film marks a reunion between Hathaway, Showalter, and Amazon MGM, as they previously worked together on the romance dramaThe Idea of You, which was released straight to streaming in May 2024. Nick Antosca (Antlers) wrote the script forVerity, and Deadline reports that Amazon MGM intends to release the film in theaters.
Hathaway will play bestselling thriller author Verity Crawford, who becomes the subject of intrigue when, following a mysterious accident, a struggling writer named Lowen Ashleigh is hired by Verity’s husband to help her complete one of her novels. Lowen discovers an unfinished manuscript that reveals dark secrets from Verity and her husband’s past, and begins to wonder whether Verify’s writing was fiction or the fantasies and confessions of a disturbed individual. Self-published initially,Veritywas picked up by Grand Central Publishing in 2021 and became a bestseller, selling over a million copies.
Mid-Budget Dramas Are Making a Comeback
Verityis one of three Colleen Hoover novels to be fast-tracked as a major motion picture.Universal Pictures hasReminders of Himset for a July 14, 2025, release date, though no cast has been announced yet. Meanwhile,The Fault in Our Starsdirector Josh Boone is currently working on an adaptation ofHoover’s 2019 novelRegretting You,with stars Mckenna Grace and Alison Williamsattached in the lead roles. DespiteIt Ends with Usbeing a box office hit, it is unlikely the book’s sequel,It Starts With Us, will get off the ground due to behind-the-scenes conflicts between star Blake Lively andIt Ends with Usdirector and co-star Justin Baldoni.
It Ends With Us' Ending and Its Major Deviation From the Book, Explained
It Ends With Us brings the story of Lily Bloom to the big screen and makes some big changes to Colleen Hoover’s original ending.
Amazon MGM’s decision to releaseVeritytheatrically is a nice course correction following its release of Hathaway and Showalter’s previous film,The Idea of You.The Idea of Youwas also adapted from a popular book, and Amazon MGM likely could have made a small profit had it released the film in theaters, as evidenced by the big turnout forIt Ends with Us. The box office success ofIt Ends With Ustapped into the rising popularity of adult-oriented dramas and romance novels that have taken the publishing world by storm. As with the rich world of Marvel Comics andStar Wars,authors like Colleen Hooverand her contemporaries have plenty of stories to adapt and legions of loyal fans. While the YA genre burned out pretty quickly on film, movies such asIt Ends with Usand the upcomingVeritymight tap into audiences' desire for a return to the mid-budget adult drama that was popular in the 1990s and 2000s but seemed to fade away as superhero blockbusters and sci-fi epics took priority at cineplexes.
