The Idea Of You – Release Date, Trailer And The Book It’s Based On

24 April 2024, 13:08 | Updated: 24 April 2024, 13:12

The Idea of You stars Nicholas Galitzine and Anne Hathaway
The Idea of You stars Nicholas Galitzine and Anne Hathaway. Picture: Getty/Prime Video

By Kathryn Knight

The Idea Of You, starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine is about to become our new obsession. Here's why you need to have it on your radar.

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The Idea Of You is coming to fill the After-shaped hole in our lives, this time with a love story between characters played by Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, a divorced mother and a 20-year-old pop star who strike up an unexpected romance.

The book by Robinne Lee was originally released in 2017 and when it was announced that it began to gain traction online during the pandemic, the author revealed to Vogue magazine that none other than Harry Styles was one of her inspirations for the character of Hayes, as well as Prince Harry and a couple of her ex-boyfriends.

There will no doubt have been some changes for the big screen adaptation starring Hathaway and Galitzine, but until we know more here’s everything we know so far about The Idea of You including its release date, who’s in the cast and the book it’s based on.

The Idea of You is coming out on Prime Video
The Idea of You is coming out on Prime Video. Picture: Prime Video

When is The Idea of You coming out?

The Idea of You is coming out worldwide on 2nd May on Prime Video, just a few months away!

The poster for the film was released in March, showing an in-love Hathaway gazing up at her toy boy boyfriend played by Galitzine.

The adaptation of the book has been floating around for years, but filming for the actual film didn't begin until October 2022.

Watch the trailer for The Idea of You

Watch The Idea of You trailer

The trailer for The Idea of You is here! Watch it above.

In the trailer we get a first look at single mom Soléne's (Hathaway) love story with the lead singer of the hottest boy band of the moment, Hayes (Galitzine). Their unexpected relationship forms after Soléne steps in to chaperone her teenage daughter’s trip to Coachella when her ex bails at the last minute. The movie description reads: “She has a chance encounter with Hayes and there is an instant, undeniable spark.”

It goes on: “As they begin a whirlwind romance, it isn’t long before Hayes’ superstar status poses unavoidable challenges to their relationship, and Soléne soon discovers that life in the glare of his spotlight might be more than she bargained for.”

Anne Hathaway stars as Soléne in The Idea of You
Anne Hathaway stars as Soléne in The Idea of You. Picture: Getty

What is the book The Idea of You about?

The film adaptation of The Idea of You sounds like it’s stuck very closely to the original story in the book. The novel follows Soléne Marchand, a 39-year-old art gallery owner in LA who’s mum to her teenage daughter Isabelle. She’s reluctant to take Isabelle to meet her favourite boy band but since her divorce she’s eager to keep a close relationship with her daughter.

The book description reads: “The last thing Solène expects is to make a connection with one of the members of the world-famous August Moon… That he is all of twenty years old further complicates things.”

Their trysts quickly evolve into a ‘passionate and genuine relationship’ but their relationship soon becomes a viral sensation and Soléne and her daughter are thrust into the centre of mass media attention and ‘rabid fans’.

Nicholas Galitzine is Hayes in The Idea of You
Nicholas Galitzine is Hayes in The Idea of You. Picture: Getty

Is the book The Idea of You about Harry Styles?

The Idea of You was ‘never supposed to be a book about Harry Styles’ according to author Robinne Lee. However, it garnered comparisons to the One Direction star over his iconic boyband status and international fame even beyond the band.

She explained to Vogue magazine: “It was supposed to be a story about a woman approaching 40 and reclaiming her sexuality and rediscovering herself, just at the point that society traditionally writes women off as desirable and viable and whole.”

Harry Styles performing in red suit
Harry Styles was one of the inspirations for The Idea of You. Picture: Getty

The author told blogger Deborah Kalb in 2017 that when her husband was on a business trip she was “up late surfing music videos on YouTube" and discovered the face "of a boy I’d never seen in a band I’d never paid attention to. … It was like…art.”

After a deep dive on Google, she discovered ‘he often dated older women, and so the seed was planted.’

Asked directly if Harry Styles inspired The Idea of You, Lee said: “Inspired is a strong word.” Instead, her ideas came from her idea of “my dream guy.. like Prince Harry, meets Harry [Styles] plus a couple of ex-boyfriends, a little of her husband and a dash of Eddie Redmayne.”

Hathaway addressed the rumours too in an interview with Extra, the actress was asked whether the story was inspired by Harry Styles and his relationship with the older Olivia Wilde, to which she simply replied: “No, just no.”

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