Following the success of her best-selling novel movie adaptation of It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover’s best-selling psychological thriller Verity is currently under production at Amazon MGM studios.
Even better news: Anne Hathaway has just been cast in the movie. Although the movie is still in the very early stages of production, with no release date yet, I am still extremely excited to watch this intense novel come to life.
Here is everything we know about the movie so far.
What is Verity about?
Verity was originally self-published by Hoover in December 2018. This followed her successful 2016 publications of It Ends With Us and Too Late. Verity was later acquired by Grand Central Publishing in 2021.
It has spent months on the New York Times Best Sellers list. The book has also sold more than one million copies in 2023 alone.
The story follows Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin, who accepts a job offer that could change her life. Jeremy Crawford, the husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series that his injured wife is unable to finish.
Lowen arrives at the Crawford home ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines. She hopes to find enough material to get her started writing the unfinished books. But Lowen uncovers an unfinished autobiography that Verity never intended for anyone to read. It includes numerous pages of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollections of what really happened the day her daughter died.
Lowen decides to keep the autobiography hidden from Jeremy. But as her feelings for him begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.
All the Movie Details We Know So Far
Anne Hathaway was cast in the film on November 20th. Colleen Hoover put the book in the hands of Michael Showalter, who will direct the film. Both Hathaway and Showalter worked together on the popular Amazon Prime movie, The Idea of You, so we know this duo can work incredibly well together.
Production for the movie is set to start in February 2025 and finish in April. Hillary Seitz (known for The Unforgivable) wrote the script back in August 2024. According to Colleen Hoover’s Wiki, Hoover shared that she had read it shortly after.
Nick Antosca (known for The Act) and Alex Hedlund will produce the movie.
Further casting and an official release date have yet to be announced.
How have the fans reacted?
Following the huge success of the book, fans have had very mixed views on the adaptation. The movie adaptation of It Ends With Us had similar reviews. Fans emphasized the casting of Lily Bloom (Blake Lively) was wrong. Viewers felt disconnected from her through the screen, which to many, is not the case in the book. On the page, they had a great emotional attachment to the lead.
However, the casting of Ryle Kincaid (Jason Baldoni) was spot on. One review noted he “gave a stellar performance which genuinely encapsulates how unpredictable an abuser can be and how manipulative an abuser can be in a dv (domestic violence) relationship.”
Other fans noted that It Ends With Us didn’t live up to the book and that the narrative felt flat at some points. Let’s hope they don’t feel the same way about Verity!
On the brighter side, fans are delighted the four-star book will be coming to the big screen.
The book is so detailed, that fans have even said it already feels like they’re watching the movie.
Page to Screen – What can we anticipate to see?
I’d advise stopping reading here if you don’t want any spoilers, or if you haven’t read the book yet!
*spoilers start here*
The book was a wild ride from start to finish. Anything from it would be intense and dramatic to watch. I’m particularly interested in seeing how a couple of things pan out.
The Twins
In the early stages of Verity and Jeremy’s relationship, Verity does not want children. She is more obsessed with Jeremy and their life as a couple. The book details the night they conceive the twins and how she accepts pregnancy because it will make Jeremy happy. However, that is when things go south. Verity realizes Jeremy will love these children more than her and she can’t compete with them. The book goes into detail about how she tries to abort the twins in the womb.
Both twins are born, but ‘Verity’s favorite child’ passes away from a severe nut allergy. Verity tries to blame the other twin for the death and starts plotting revenge. I’m not going to say much more, but it is super intense to read. I can’t wait to see it come to life on the screen.
How the film tries to act this out will be interesting to see, but possibly very graphic, so beware. Look out for that act of jealousy and obsession from whoever lands the role of Verity.
The Manuscript vs. The Letter
There is a whole debate online about whether the audience believes Verity’s manuscript more or her final letter that was hidden and found by Lowen. A lot of readers are swayed towards the manuscript due to how the story leads up to the letter being found. And some sway towards the letter being written to save her from the gruesome things she wrote in the manuscript.
This intense drama of both of these is something I hope the film portrays perfectly, so fans can finally decide which one to believe!
I hope the intense drama is played out exactly like how my imagination felt as I was reading those pages.
Verity can be found in any bookstore or online. It is definitely worth reading before the adaptation is upon us.
