All The Emily Henry Adaptations We’ve Got To Look Forward To

Let’s face it: the 90s and early 2000s spoiled us for choice with romantic comedies. We had Pretty Woman, 10 Things I Hate About You, How To Lose a Guy in 10 days, Bridget Jones’ Diary and so many more. These films are classics that continue to be watched as guilty pleasures by many of us.

Are they cliches? Yes. Are they realistic in today’s world? Probably not. Do we still get so excited to sit down and watch them and feel something? Yes, of course. So why does it sometimes feel like a good film of this genre not been produced in years?

Romantic comedies need to be enjoyable, witty and cliche. We want the ending to be happily ever after. We watch this genre to escape reality, while also wishing that the love interests exist somewhere in the world. We want to believe our happily ever after is out there for us.

Films have long been adapted from novels, and Netflix is on top of its game with People We Meet On Vacation being one of the newer releases this year. The romance novel written by Emily Henry, starring Emily Bader and Tom Blyth, was a highly anticipated film.

 

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And it has ticked many boxes regarding a good romcom: love triangles, a meet cute and growing tension between the leads with undeniable chemistry. There are some very mixed reviews of this film, ‘boring’ and ‘predictable’ being common words used. Yet isn’t a happy ending part of the romcom cliches?

Although critics may not be entirely optimistic, TikTok and Instagram are embracing this film like never before. Countless fan edits are being made, along with recreations of the iconic dance scene to Forever Your Girl. This film has truly reignited the lost romcom spark. We were even treated to an epic, angry love confession in the rain – thank you, Emily Henry! 

So, is Henry slowly reviving this film genre? We hope so. With People We Meet On Vacation only being the start, and many more adaptations expected, let’s take a look at some of the upcoming projects.

Beach Read

Henry’s 2020 romance novel, Beach Read, is currently in development with 20^th Century Studios. The novel follows an enemies-to-lovers trope between the two main characters January and Gus.

Both are authors who are struggling with writer’s block in their different genres. From college rivals to making bets in an attempt to overcome their creative blocks, this novel has serious potential for a great film adaptation.

Book Lovers

The novel Book Lovers, published in 2022, is the next film set to be in development. Tango Entertainment, the production team behind Aftersun, bought the rights to the film.

The novel has a moderate spice level, and follows a slow burn romance and forced proximity between Nora and Charlie. All we know so far is the script is being written by Sarah Heyward, and Henry is excited for her “funny, cozy, moving and messy” adaptation.

Happy Place

Henry’s novel Happy Place features Harriet and Wyn, a once happy couple forced to pretend their relationship is still thriving while on vacation with friends.

The film is being adapted for Netflix by Jennifer Lopez’s company, Nuyorican Productions, with Henry writing the screenplay. It was initially planned as a series but was later decided to be a film – another potential classic addiction to the romcom genre.

Are we hopeful for this revival? Yes! Although it’s a challenging genre to succeed in, Emily Henry’s novel-to-film adaptations are a step in the right direction to bring the neglected romcom back to where it once was.

Words by Nia Hayden