Book fans at the ready — Evelyn Hugo is heading to the big screen.
It has been confirmed this morning that Anna Kendrick will be directing Netflix’s adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
This will be her second movie, following her 2023 directorial debut, Woman of the Hour.
The official Netflix synopsis states, ‘The film follows a young journalist‘s long awaited interview with Evelyn Hugo, an ageing Hollywood starlet, who pulls back the curtain on her seven marriages, and as she tells tales of Hollywood scandals, betrayals, and woe, she unveils shocking truths about her own life and the lives of everyone around her.’
Adapted for the screen by Emmy nominee Liz Tigelaar, with current revisions by Francesca Sloane.
Fan casts have been flooding in since the book’s release, but now it’s time to get serious.
Names like Ana De Armas and Rita Moreno as Evelyn, Jessica Chastain or Saoirse Ronan as popular pics for Celia St James. Several Hollywood actors have also been floated as her multiple husbands, including Jonathan Bailey, Henry Cavill, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Austin Butler.
But with author Taylor Jenkins Reid set to executive produce the project, we know whoever ends up in the cast will be the vision she anticipated for the story.
This is the second book-to-screen adaptation for Jenkins Reid, whose novel, Daisy Jones and The Six, hit our TV screens in 2023.
The show earned multiple Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Limited Series, Outstanding Lead Actress for Riley Keough as Daisy Jones, and Outstanding Supporting Actress for Camila Morrone as Camila Alvarez.
As a lover of the book, all I hope for is that the film keeps the integrity and intrigue of the storytelling, perhaps with a few classic old Hollywood references and a sense of simplicity.
All the book fans want is an accurate representation of the novel, without oversaturating or cheapening of the book’s tropes. Famous or undiscovered actors are fine, as long as they preserve the substance of these already beloved characters.
Safe to say I’m excited to see what Anna Kendrick does with this!
