The Idea of You
The Idea of You is a 2024 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Showalter from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jennifer Westfeldt, based on the novel of the same name by Robinne Lee. Starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, it chronicles the love affair between a single mother and the lead singer of a popular boy band.
The Idea of You
- Michael Showalter
- Jennifer Westfeldt
The Idea of You
by Robinne Lee
- Cathy Schulman
- Gabrielle Union
- Anne Hathaway
- Robinne Lee
- Eric Hayes
- Michael Showalter
- Jordana Mollick
- Anne Hathaway
- Nicholas Galitzine
- Amazon MGM Studios
- Somewhere Pictures
- Welle Entertainment
- March 16, 2024 (SXSW)
- May 2, 2024 (Prime Video)
115 minutes[1]
United States
English
The film premiered at South by Southwest on March 16, 2024, and is scheduled to be released by Amazon MGM Studios via Prime Video on May 2, 2024.[2]
Production[edit]
In December 2018, it was announced that an adaptation of the Robinne Lee novel The Idea of You had been opted by Welle Entertainment with Cathy Schulman and Gabrielle Union producing.[5] Union named the book amongst her ten favourite of all time in 2018.[6] Union and Lee have been friends since the early 2000s.[7] Lee, Eric Hayes, Belle Hope Dayne, and Jordana Mollick also serve as producers. In June 2021 it was revealed that Jennifer Westfelft had adapted the novel and Anne Hathaway was cast in the starring role.[8] In August 2022 Michael Showalter was confirmed as director.[9][10] In September 2022 Nicholas Galitzine was added to the cast as the lead singer of "the hottest boyband on the planet."[11][12] In October 2022, Ella Rubin was revealed to be playing Hathaway's daughter and that principal photography had commenced.[13][14] Following shortly after that announcement Annie Mumolo, Reid Scott, Perry Mattfeld and Jordan Aaron Hall were revealed to have joined the cast as well as Jaiden Anthony, Raymond Cham, Vik White and Dakota Adam as the rest of the band Galitzine fronts.[15][16]
Filming took place in the Georgia cities of Atlanta, Savannah and surrounding areas in October 2022.[17][18][19]
Release[edit]
The Idea of You had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 16, 2024 as the closing-night film and is scheduled to be released on May 2, 2024 as an Amazon Prime Video exclusive.[20][21]
Reception[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 19 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10.[22] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[23]
Grazia described the film as being based on Harry Styles fan fiction.[24] Vogue described the plot as a "socio-cultural commentary about aging and a woman's worth".[25]