Sony Pictures Releasing
Following the box office success of “It Ends With Us”, which remarkably clinched the second spot during its opening weekend, it’s time to prepare for more cinematic adaptations of Colleen Hoover’s novels. The acclaimed author, who has a knack for infusing her personal struggles into her works, has a plethora of books under her belt. Her devoted fanbase, self-dubbed “the Cohorts”, are eagerly anticipating what’s next in line for the silver screen. Likely, it will be a series of films based on Hoover’s emotive, dramatic, and passionate narratives.
To be clear from the outset, I’m not an ardent follower of Hoover’s literary style. I find her writing skills lacking in technical finesse, her character names bizarrely peculiar (Ryle? Lowen?! Allysa?!?!), and her attempts at conveying profound messages somewhat misdirected. However, her books have garnered a significant following, which is commendable. But the disturbing imagery she often employs — from using cow dung as an aphrodisiac to someone vomiting on a raw chicken — has left an indelible mark on my mind.
Regardless, it seems we are destined for a wave of big-screen adaptations of Hoover’s novels. So, which ones are the prime candidates?
It Starts With Us
Atria Books
Despite the alleged on-set tensions between Blake Lively and director Justin Baldoni during the making of “It Ends With Us”, a sequel seems imminent, especially since Hoover has already penned it. In the sequel, Lily Blossom Bloom, the awkwardly named florist turned single parent to Emerson “Emmy” Kincaid, grapples with co-parenting with her abusive ex-husband Ryle, while kindling a romance with her childhood sweetheart Atlas Corrigan. The book alternates perspectives between Atlas and Lily, unlike “It Ends With Us” which solely focused on Lily, and addresses the awkward conclusion of the first novel, where Lily shares custody of her daughter with her abusive ex.
Assuming Lively and Baldoni, who portrayed Lily and Ryle in “It Ends With Us”, might not reprise their roles, “It Starts With Us” is somewhat of a slow-burn story. However, given the audience turnout for the first film, a sequel seems inevitable. So, brace yourself for a movie where Ryle continues to be a jerk, and Lily and Atlas (Brandon Sklenar) finally make their relationship work.
Verity
Grand Central Publishing
Arguably Hoover’s second most popular novel after “It Ends With Us”, Verity is more of a suspenseful thriller than her usual romantic dramas. The story begins with Lowen Ashleigh, a writer suffering from writer’s block, who stumbles upon a man named Jeremy Crawford in the aftermath of a violent accident. Jeremy later discloses that his wife, the renowned novelist Verity Crawford, is incapacitated following an accident and requires a ghostwriter for her upcoming book, leading to Lowen moving into the eerie Crawford residence.
The major plot twists in “Verity” are somewhat predictable. Lowen and Jeremy engage in an inappropriate relationship, and through Verity’s old diary entries, we learn about her relationship with Jeremy and the tragedy that struck their family years before her accident. This is also the Hoover book where a character receives life-altering news while washing a chicken — not a recommended practice — and then proceeds to vomit on the raw chicken. This should make for an interesting scene when this book inevitably gets its film adaptation.
November 9
Atria Books
Another romantic drama that bears some basic similarities to “It Ends With Us” — in that it chronicles a deeply troubled and outright dysfunctional relationship — Colleen Hoover’s novel “November 9” seems like a decent contender for an adaptation. The book is structured in a way that, to be quite honest, feels like a rip-off of David Nicholls’ “One Day” (which got adaptations on both the big and small screen). When they’re both just 18 years old, Fallon and Ben meet on the West Coast and spend just one day with each other, but because Fallon is preparing to move to New York, they agree to meet up every year on the same date. (You can probably guess which date.)
The reveal in this book is truly, absolutely outlandish — basically, we find out that Ben is the reason that Fallon’s house burned down, which, okay?! — but the main couple end up together anyway, so all’s well that ends well. Again, this whole plotline of meeting each other once a year to carry on some sort of relationship has been done to death, but “November 9” has Colleen Hoover’s name slapped on it, so we could end up with yet another movie that feels suspiciously similar to “One Day” (although, ideally, this one won’t feature Anne Hathaway sporting a particularly bad British accent).
Ugly Love
Atria Books
All of Colleen Hoover’s books could probably be called “Ugly Love” for one reason or another, but she chose this one, which focuses on the troubling romance between nurse Elizabeth “Tate” Collins and pilot Miles Archer. Tate and Miles definitely don’t hit it off right away, but after he cuts his hand and she stitches it up, they kiss, at which point he tells her that she shouldn’t “let” him do that again. This detente lasts for about one evening before Miles tells Tate they can make a deal: they can sleep together whenever they want but will never have a legitimate relationship, and Tate can never ask Miles about anything personal.
For plot reasons, Tate takes this relatively unappealing offer, and Hoover switches perspectives so that we can learn what happened to Miles — which ultimately boils down to a tumultuous young love that ends in the tragic death of Miles’ son. Throughout “Ugly Love,” Miles treats Tate like absolute crap, so it feels like “Ugly Love” might be sort of difficult to translate without making the male lead completely off-putting. Sure, they get a happy ending, but do audiences really want to sit through an entire film’s worth of a traumatized man forcing distance between himself and the main love interest? (Maybe they do. Again, it’s under the Colleen Hoover umbrella. This stuff sells.)
Reminders of Him
