What is Anne Hathaway’s Verity about? Colleen Hoover controversy explained

Anne Hathaway has been cast in the upcoming film Verity, so why are opinions divided over the announcement? It has something to do with Colleen Hoover.

Even if you’re not familiar with her books, you’ve probably heard the name a lot over the past year due to the adaptation of her novel It Ends With Us.

The new film was widely criticized when it was released in the summer, partly for the way it portrayed the issue of domestic violence, but also because of rumors of trouble between star Blake Lively and director Justin Baldoni.

The It Ends With Us drama has since died down, but has reignited amid the announcement of Amazon MGM Studios’ Verity adaptation – here’s everything you need to know.

What to expect from the plot of the Verity movie

Hachette Book Group

Directed by Michael Showalter and written by Nick Antosca. Verity follows Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer who is hired to complete a popular series of books after the original author, Verity Crawford, becomes incapacitated..

As Lowen integrates herself into the lives of Verity’s husband Jeremy Crawford and their young son Crew, she begins to sift through the writer’s notes and discovers chilling secrets that leave her questioning what is real and what is not.

In November 2024, Deadline confirmed that Anne Hathaway had joined the cast as Verity. It sees the Oscar-winning actress reunited with Showalter after the pair worked together on The Idea of ​​You.

Antosca is now writing the script for the story of Colleen Hoover’s 2018 best-selling novel of the same name. “The novel is a gothic, psychosexual thriller in the vein of Rebecca and Gone Girl,” the outlet said.

Controversy over the truth explained

Sony

Opinions on Hathaway joining the cast are mixed following the It Ends With Us controversywhich went viral upon the film adaptation’s release in August.

For the uninitiated, it started with rumors of trouble between the cast and Baldoni after claims that none of the leads, including Lively, followed him on Instagram. They were also not seen at the premiere with the filmmaker, which only fueled the speculation.

Although many insiders alleged problems between Lively and Baldoni, none of those directly involved confirmed or denied the rumors.

However, the main criticism concerned the way Lively promoted the film, with many taking issue with the fact that she made a light-hearted video with her husband Ryan Reynolds and promoted her hair care and alcohol brands during the press tour.

The most infamous line came from a promotional video in which Lively told viewers, “Grab your friends, carry your flowers and go out and see it,” with onlookers accusing her of making It Ends With Us sound more like a romcom. then a drama about domestic violence.

This in turn revived the old criticism that Hoover trivialized or even romanticized abuse in her writing. Many pointed out the author’s plan to release an It Ends With Us coloring book, which she pulled back and apologized for the “tone deaf” idea.

It was one of the biggest talking points during the summer blockbuster, which is why some fans have expressed concerns about Verity.

“Never thought she would stoop so low to support someone who sexualizes k*ds and thinks DV is romantic,” one wrote on X/Twitter, while another said: “Anne you can still get away with it.”

A third added: “How Anne Hathaway went from starring in Christopher Nolan’s (work)… to a film based on problematic and abusive apologist Colleen Hoover is beyond me. Hopefully she drops it.”

A fourth chimed in: “I can see Anne Hathaway working on the Hallmark Channel at this rate in a few years!”

The casting of Anne Hathaway also creates excitement

20th century fox

But not all feedback is negative, especially since Verity is a psychological thriller and doesn’t delve into sensitive themes in the same way that It Ends With Us does.

As one X/Twitter user wrote: “Okay, but that book was really good.” A second commented: “Perfect casting! Anne Hathaway has the range for this dark and twisted role.”

“Anne Hathaway in a toxic thriller? She’s about to redefine unhinged,” said another, while a fourth added: “That’s amazing! Anne Hathaway is such a talented actress. I bet she will bring a lot of depth to the character.”

There’s no news yet on who will join her in the cast, but we do know that Hathaway is one of the busiest stars in Hollywood right now.

In addition to Verity, she has The Princess Diaries 3, Flowervale Street, Paper Tiger, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Mother Mary and Yesteryear in the pipeline, not to mention Christopher Nolan’s next film.

We’ll be sure to keep you posted as new details about Verity come in. Until then, check out the best movies of the year so far, as well as the new movies coming to streaming this month.