A year or so after It Ends With Us became the most talked about movie in the country, the next Colleen Hoover adaptation is ready to begin its marketing campaign. Regretting You, a Paramount adaptation based on her 2019 novel of the same name, dropped its first trailer today, and the initial response has been extremely positive amongst the author’s fans. In fact, many have been talking about how it looks to be exactly what they’d hoped for.
The film stars Mckenna Grace and Allison Williams as a mother and daughter trying to figure out how to move on after a terrible accident. Mason Thames plays Grace’s love interest, a local cool kid, and Dave Franco plays Grace’s uncle and Williams’ brother-in-law, who is also wrestling with the scars of the aforementioned terrible accident. You check out the trailer that’s somber and emotional but also very full of life…
You can’t always judge something’s reaction based on social media, but I will say the comments are extremely positive on YouTube. Like really, really positive. Many are singling out the casting director, and it’s easy to see why. It really feels like there’s a strong chemistry here with all of the leads, which is particularly important since many of the characters have complicated relationships with each other. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised about Thames and Grace’ rapport though, given all the rumors that they’re allegedly dating in real life too.
Regardless, I’m really excited for this movie. I like films that don’t necessarily have one tone, and a lot of Hoover’s books are able to hit different kinds of emotional beats. This film is clearly going for that, and it has actors who, in theory, should be able to do that. Williams, in particular, has bounced between genres during her career and always excelled, no matter the subject matter.
It’ll be interesting to see whether this film is able to have the same cultural resonance as Hoover’s last adaptation It Ends With Us. The Blake Lively-led film took in more than $350M at the worldwide box office and was in the US top 10 for almost a month and a half, but at some point, the story became less about the movie and more about the behind the scenes problems. Director Justin Baldoni and Lively ended up suing each other, and numerous stories have emerged about tense meetings, inappropriate conversations and alleged meddling from Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds.
Controversy can, of course, be good for business. I’m sure all the stories helped expose some people to the movie who may not have heard about it otherwise, but on the downside, it’s left a lot of unanswered questions about Hoover’s viability at the box office. Many in Hollywood see her as someone whose books can get passionate fans into the theater, but because of all the noise around It Ends With Us, no one is quite sure whether that success will translate. We'll find out soon, as she has multiple upcoming adaptations in the works.
Regretting You will hit theaters on October 24th. Fingers crossed the discourse this time will be about how good the movie is and not about behind the scenes rumors.
