The Love Hypothesis: What We Know So Far About the Movie Adaptation
3 min readAli Hazelwood’s bestselling romance novel The Love Hypothesis is officially coming to the big screen. The forthcoming film from Amazon MGM Studios and MRC will be directed by Claire Scanlon (Set It Up) and penned by Sarah Rothschild (The Sleepover). Hazelwood will also executive produce the adaptation.
Here’s everything we know about the project so far.
What is The Love Hypothesis about?
The Love Hypothesis follows a third-year biology Ph.D. candidate named Olive Smith who begins a fake relationship with a professor, Dr. Adam Carlsen.
Who is in the cast?
Lili Reinhart (Riverdale) will play Olive Smith, the Ph.D. candidate. (Reinhart will also executive produce the film.) On July 16, she shared the news on Instagram with a photo of her holding a copy of the book while wearing white scrubs. She captioned the post: “????????❤️ #thelovehypothesis.”
She also posted a fun TikTok of her in a bookstore. In the video, she says, “I’m looking for a book that could be turned into a really good romantic comedy that I could possibly be the lead of.” A bookstore employee then hands her a copy of The Love Hypothesis.
She posted another video of her in a lab, wearing scrubs, and highlighting a section of the book:
Reinhart’s co-star will be Tom Bateman (Death on the Nile). He’ll play the professor, Dr. Carlsen. She celebrated Bateman’s casting announcement with a third TikTok video introducing his character and their romance arc.
In a statement, Hazelwood expressed her excitement about the upcoming adaptation. “Elizabeth Cantillon [the film’s producer], 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,” she said, per Deadline.
She continued, “Books and films are very different media, and I have complete trust in this brilliant team. 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.”
On August 11, more casting news was announced. According to Deadline, Jaboukie Young-White (Rap Sh!t), Rachel Marsh (Adults), Nicholas Duvernay (The White Lotus), and Arty Froushan (Daredevil: Born Again) have joined The Love Hypothesis.
The new cast members filmed a fun video announcing their characters. Young-White will play Malcolm, Marsh will play Anh, Duvernay will play Jeremy, and Froushan will play Tom.
Can I see any photos from The Love Hypothesis?
Yes. On June 11, 2026, the first official images from The Love Hypothesis were released, offering fans an early look at Reinhart’s Olive Smith and Bateman’s Adam Carlsen.
Several photos preview key moments from the adaptation, including the pair’s first kiss.
The images arrived alongside new comments from the cast and author. Bateman told Cosmopolitan that he and Reinhart “really cared about these brilliant and beloved characters” and that they “bonded in our shared dream of making sure the relationship between the two of them feels organic and authentic.”
Hazelwood also praised the pair’s performances, saying, “They have great chemistry, both with each other and with the rest of the cast. They made me fall for these characters all over again at a point in time when I really needed it, which felt like a real privilege.”
Is there a trailer for The Love Hypothesis?
On June 27, the first official teaser trailer for the adaptation was released.
When is The Love Hypothesis coming out?
The Love Hypothesis premieres on Prime Video on Sept. 23, 2026.
This story will be updated.