Lili Reinhart attends the ‘Hal & Harper’ premiere on Jan. 26, 2025, in Park City, Utah ; ‘The Love Hypothesis’ by Ali Hazelwood. Credit :

Cindy Ord/Getty ; Berkley

• In 2022, the movie rights for Ali Hazelwood’s romance novel The Love Hypothesis were acquired by Bisous Pictures
• On July 16, Deadline announced that Lili Reinhart would star in the project, and one day later, revealed that Tom Bateman would play the male lead
• The Love Hypothesis movie will be directed by Claire Scanlon

The Love Hypothesis is getting the big screen treatment.

In October 2022, Deadline announced that Elizabeth Cantillon’s label Bisous Pictures was partnering with Ali Hazelwood to adapt her best-selling romance novel, The Love Hypothesis. Per the outlet, Hazelwood shared a statement in which she said she was “very excited for this next step in Olive and Adam’s story!”

Nearly three years later, the outlet reported on July 16 that Riverdale star Lili Reinhart would star in the project, which is being adapted by Amazon MHM Studios and MRC and directed by Claire Scanlon. Just one day later, Deadline reported that Tom Bateman would star opposite as the male lead.

Following the announcement of Reinhart’s casting, Hazelwood shared her excitement about the cast and crew bringing it to life, saying, “Honestly, I still can’t believe this is happening?”

“Elizabeth Cantillon, Claire Scanlon, and Lili Reinhart have all created, produced, or starred in works that I’m absolutely feral about, and I am beyond honored that they’re choosing to bring their talent to this project,” the statement read, per Deadline. “Books and films are very different media, and I have complete trust in this brilliant team.”

Hazelwood continued, “I cannot wait to see the final product they’ll come up with. I hope they have as much fun filming as I had while writing the book.”

From plot points to casting details, here’s everything to know about The Love Hypothesis movie.

Lili Reinhart poses with the book ‘The Love Hypothesis’ by Ali Hazelwood. Lili Reinhart/Instagram

While the movie’s official logline has yet to be revealed, The Love Hypothesis novel centers on Olive Smith, a biology PhD candidate, and Dr. Adam Carlsen, a hotshot professor. Per the book’s synopsis, one woman’s “carefully calculated theories on love” are turned into “chaos” when a “fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistable force of attraction.”

After Hazelwood published The Love Hypothesis in 2021, it spent 10 months on The New York Times bestseller list and was named the Best Romance of the Year by Amazon, per Deadline.

Since then, Hazelwood has released several more beloved novels, including Problematic Summer Romance, Deep End, Love on the Brain and Bride.

Lili Reinhart attends Vanities: A Night For Young Hollywood Party on Feb. 26, 2025, in Los Angeles ; Tom Bateman attends the ‘Magpie’ screening on Oct. 25, 2024, in New York City. Maya Dehlin Spach/Getty ; Dominik Bindl/Getty

On July 16, Deadline announced that Reinhart would star as Olive Smith in The Love Hypothesis. She shared the news by posting an Instagram selfie posed with the book captioned “👀🧬❤️ #thelovehypothesis.”

The official Amazon MGM Studios Instagram commented, “Nice to meet you Olive Smith,” while the Prime Video account added, “love is in the air.”

Reinhart is best known for her TV roles in the CW series Riverdale, Mubi’s Hal & Harper and movie appearances in The Kings of Summer (2013), Chemical Hearts (2020) and Look Both Ways (2022).

In addition to her Instagram post on July 16, Reinhart posted a TikTok in a bookstore in which she was “looking for a book that could be turned into a really good romantic comedy that I could possibly be the lead of,” then transitioned to an employee handing her The Love Hypothesis.

As for who might star opposite her as Adam, Deadline announced one day later that Bateman would play the male lead, which had fans buzzing over its potential personal connection.

Per Entertainment Weekly, Hazelwood’s novel evolved out of Head Over Feet, a work of Star Wars fan fiction published online in 2018 that imagined a romance between rival warriors Kylo Ren and Rey, otherwise known as “Reylo.” While Kylo Ren was played by Adam Driver, Rey was portrayed by Daisy Ridley — who is married to Bateman.

Just after the second casting announcement, Reinhart posted a playful TikTok of the pair, captioned, “Dr. Adam Carlsen #thelovehypothesis.”

Bateman is best known for his roles in 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express, 2017’s Snatched, 2019’s Cold Pursuit and 2022’s Death on the Nile. More recently, he appeared in Peacock’s Based on a True Story.

Claire Scanlon attends the premiere of ‘The People We Hate at the Wedding’ on Nov. 16, 2022, in Westwood, Calif. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty

The Love Hypothesis will be directed by Scanlon, who previously helmed 2018’s Set It Up, the Netflix rom-com starring Glen Powell and Zoey Deutch. She is also known for directing 2022’s The People We Hate at the Wedding — starring Allison Janney, Kristen Bell and Ben Platt — and a few episodes of ABC’s Abbott Elementary and Apple TV’s Loot and Palm Royale.

Scanlon will work from a script by Sarah Rothschild, who penned 2020’s The Sleepover. The behind-the-scenes crew also includes Elizabeth Cantillon and Catherine Hagedorn, who will join Hazelwood and Reinhart as producers.

Sorry, readers. You’ll have to wait a little longer to see Olive and Adam on the silver screen, as no release date has been announced yet. However, based on Reinhart’s Instagram selfie, it appears she’s already getting into character.

‘The Love Hypothesis’ by Ali Hazelwood. Berkley

It has yet to be revealed whether The Love Hypothesis will premiere in theaters or be released on a streaming platform.