It’s more common these days for an author to be inspired by a popular love story and write one of their own than ever. The Dakota Johnson-led 50 Shades of Grey movies is based on erotica that started as Twilight fanfiction, and the After books and movies are based on Harry Styles fanfiction. The latest movie that will be influenced by imaginative shippers is The Love Hypothesis, a bestselling romance novel that began thanks to Star Wars’ Reylo.
Ah yes, Reylo. It was the controversial Star Wars relationship that was often at the center of the Sequel Trilogy and ended with a kiss between Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. The display of affection occurred in 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker before fans of the romance were crushed when Ben died in Rey’s arms just moments later. Ali Hazelwood was inspired by Reylo to write her 2021 novel The Love Hypothesis, which is now officially being adapted into a movie.
Per Deadline, the studio behind Netflix’s recent adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion is tackling the movie version of The Love Hypothesis, a romantic comedy storyline with characters that were inspired by Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver’s Star Wars on-screen romance. Check out the cover of the New York Times bestseller and tell me you don’t see the resemblance:
Now The Love Hypothesis is not a sci-fi romance set in Jakku. The story follows a third-year Ph.D. candidate named Olive Smith who is a cynic when it comes to lasting romances. Olive gets wrapped up in a classic rom-com scenario of finding a “fake boyfriend” in Adam Carlsen, a “young hotshot professor–and well-known ass” who agrees to take part in the charade with Olive. Down the road, obviously the pair fall for one another for real.
Not only do the main characters of The Love Hypothesis look just like Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver, “Adam” as a character name is also a nice nod. In the official synopsis of the novel, it’s described that it’s “going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks” for Olive to fall in love. The subtle references are there, but all in all, the upcoming movie is very much its own thing just like 50 Shades of Grey and Twilight are much different, and the Harry Styles and After comparisons stop at Hero Fiennes Tiffin’s appearance.
Now the question is whether Daisy Ridley or Adam Driver would actually star in The Love Hypothesis. It’s what everyone wants, but we wouldn’t blame the actors if they want to distance themselves from Reylo after all the toxicity from Star Wars fandom over the years. While we anticipate The Love Hypothesis, check out the Star Wars movies in order and new episodes of Andor on Disney+ on Wednesdays.
