Anna Kendrick To Direct Netflix Adaptation of a 2017 Bestseller That Exploded on TikTok

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a 2017 bestselling novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The story, which was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction, is about a Hollywood actress telling her life story, which includes details about her seven marriages.

Jenkins Reid, who also wrote Daisy Jones & The Six, is attached as an executive producer for the film adaptation. Deadline has also recently announced that Anna Kendrick will be directing.

Kendrick made her directorial debut in 2023 with Woman of the Hour, a crime thriller based on a true story. It told the tale of a serial killer who appeared as a contestant on the show, The Dating Game, in 1978.

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When speaking about her experience directing for the first time in a 2024 interview, Kendrick said, “I think for a long time, in my conscious mind, I was very much holding onto the belief that being a director just takes too much out of you. Subconsciously, I think I was sort of protecting myself because it feels really vulnerable to want to do something and say it out loud or even acknowledge it to yourself. So it was something that was under the surface for a long time, but maybe I just didn’t feel brave enough to admit it until this movie came along.”

When asked what she would like to direct in the future, she said, “I’ll admit I am sort of surprised by the darkness I’m finding myself drawn to. Of the scripts that I’ve been sent to look at, the ones I’ve really liked seem really diverse, but I did notice that there’s this underpinning in each of them of a man who is very unwell and the story outlines the repercussions of his actions on everyone around him. Then there’s definitely part of me that’s drawn to the lighthearted stuff. I would love it if somebody sent me a comedy that I can just fall in love with.”

A release date for The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo has not yet been announced, but it will be streaming on Netflix.