Have you ever been at a gig staring up at the stage towards the hot musician dreaming that they’d lock eyes with you across the room? Or maybe you’ve read countless Wattpad entries of One Direction fanfiction? Or do you just simply love a rom-com? Whether you’re delulu or not, Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine‘s new film The Idea Of You truly is a Directioner’s wet dream.
The story sounds like it’s loosely based on the rabid horny hype around Harry Styles — though Anne Hathaway insists otherwise — which means I just know this is a film for the girlies. So, here’s everything we know about the upcoming flick.
Everything we know about The Idea Of You
- What is The Idea Of You About?
- Is there a trailer for The Idea Of You?
- Is it based on a true story?
- Who is in The Idea Of You?
- When does The Idea Of You come out?
What is The Idea Of You About?
The Idea Of You is about a 40-year-old woman named Solène Marchand (Anne Hathaway) who is looking to get closer to her daughter Izzy (Ella Rubin) after her recent divorce. Following the suggestion of her ex-husband Daniel (absolute daddy Reid Scott) Solène and Izzy head to Coachella to see her favourite boy band, August Moon.
But somehow, Solène winds up having a chance encounter with one of the members of August Moon, a very attractive 24-year-old heartthrob named Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), which leads to a whirlwind relationship and love affair.
As the news of their blossoming relationship eventually hits the media, Solène and Hayes must navigate the world of age-gap dating, quickly discovering that people don’t feel too fondly about their favourite boy band member shacking up with someone who isn’t them. Or, someone old enough to be their mum.
Truly the Wattpad dream, no?
Is there a trailer for The Idea Of You?
You betcha! And it’s a little bit steamy!!!
You can check it out below.
Is it based on a true story?
While we’d all like to dream that a hot celebrity would catch our eye across a crowd and say, “Wow, girl with the unfortunate unruly hair, I’m enamoured with you,” that doesn’t happen. So, as you’d expect, The Idea Of You is not based on a true story.
However, it is based on a 2017 book of the same name by Robinne Lee. As you may have guessed from the parallels, it is rumoured the novel was inspired by One Direction — though Anne Hathaway has insisted the film has nothing to do Harry Styles.
“No!” Hathaway told E! News when she was asked about it.
“Everyone needs to chill. Sorry, I probably shouldn’t be that reactive about it. I just think no.”
Galitzine also shut down the theory that his character is based on Harry Styles — despite the similarities, which we’ll get to in a second — and made it clear the pair would like to distance themselves from it.
“It’s funny,” he said, adding, “just because it’s become this thing in of itself. We have tried to distance ourselves from that, and I think Hayes is such a wonderful character in of himself. There were so many amazing references, we used BTS for a lot of the choreography, which was really great. There’s so many references out there.”
In a 2017 interview Lee spoke on the origin of the idea for the book and, despite what Hathaway says, it certainly does sound like it was about a certain someone.
“A few years ago, my husband was away on business and I was up late surfing music videos on YouTube when I came across the face of a boy I’d never seen in a band I’d never paid attention to, and it was so aesthetically perfect it took me by surprise. It was like…art,” she said.
“I spent a good hour or so Googling and trying to figure out who this kid was and in doing so I discovered that he often dated older women, and so the seed was planted.
“When my husband returned a couple of days later, I joked with him that I’d found the perfect guy and I was leaving him and our two kids, ‘oh, and by the way, he’s half my age’. My husband laughed, and then a moment later said, ‘You know, that would make a great book’.”
Due to Harry Styles’ gorgeous face, history of dating older women like Olivia Wilde, and his frank admission in 2012 that he wouldn’t date “any woman older than my mum Anne — who is 43″, I don’t think it takes a genius to connect the dots that Lee was likely talking about Mr. Watermelon Sugar.
The book gained a lot of traction during lockdown with fanfic enthusiasts and Harry Styles fans.
Who is in The Idea Of You?
The Idea Of You stars the Anne Hathaway as Solène. Personally, I think it’s wonderful casting becase she is undoubtably one of the most beautiful women on the planet. If I was a 24-year-old famous hearthrob, I would fall in love with her across the room too.
Anne Hathaway has been a Hollywood A-lister for years now after her big breakout role in The Princess Diaries in 2001. Since then, she has truly shown her range in films like The Devil Wears Prada, Serenity and Les Misérables.
Playing the fictional Harry Styles character Hayes is Nicholas Galitzine. He is a 29-year-old English actor who is undoubtably a hot up and comer in the acting scene right now.
He is best known for his role in Bottoms and for playing Prince Henry in Red, White and Royal Blue — which is another fanfic-esque film based on a novel.
When does The Idea Of You come out?
The Idea Of You had its world premiere at SXSW festival on March 16. But for everyone else, it will be available to watch from May 2 on Prime Video.
Image: Getty / Amazon Prime Video
