After It Ends With Us, BookTok darling Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel Verity is now being adapted for the screen, by Amazon MGM Studios, with Anne Hathaway signed on to lead. However, fan’s aren’t exactly happy about the casting.
Hathaway will play Lowen Ashleigh, a financially struggling writer who gets offered the writing gig of a lifetime. After bestselling thriller author Verity Crawford meets with a mysterious accident, her husband offers Lowen the job to finish writing the remaining books in his wife’s successful thriller series.
Fans of Colleen Hoover’s books might be ecstatic about this news, but the general response to this announcement has been rather mixed. The Princess Diaries actor’s fans, while understanding the motivation behind saying yes to this project, aren’t too keen on their favourite starring in an adaptation of Hoover’s book.
As much hype as the author’s books get on BookTok, there has also been a vocal section of readers who have criticised Hoover’s writing, and dismissed her work for erratic quality of her writing, lacking emotional depth, romanticising toxic and emotionally manipulative relationships, and female characters that don’t have much agency, almost adhering to traditional gender norms.
For Verity, too, the criticism has been about its graphic 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scenes, the portrayal of its female characters, and the concession given to the male character for his manipulative behaviour. Many such fans who came across the news of Hathaway’s casting were quick to make their displeasure known. One X user wrote, “omg anne you have an oscar this isn’t you..”
Another, in a hilarious turn, reminded Anne that as an honorary royal, she has her duty to her subjects!
Not all reaction to the news has been negative. Some fans believe Verity is Hoover’s best work and Anne is perfect for Lowen.
There are also some users who believe this movie is worth doing for the moolah it could possibly rake in at the box office. Despite criticisms of its source material and being one of the most controversial films of the year because of its marketing and the alleged feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, It Ends With Us was received tremendously well by the audiences. It ended up grossing a whopping $349 million in global box office collections against a production cost of $45 million.
So far, Anne Hathaway hasn’t let us down. So, I guess, we could say, let her cook with Verity?
