Book lovers, it’s time to grab your green ball gowns, Oscars and husbands because we finally have news on the highly anticipated Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo movie! Netflix recently announced that it had found a director for the project, paving the way for the film to continue its pre-production work. Read on for everything we know thus far about the director and the film, including who the internet hopes will take on the book’s lead roles.
‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ movie gets a director
Stepping into the director’s chair is none other than Maggie Betts, who is best known for projects like The Carrier (2010), Novitiate (2017) and The Burial (2023). This announcement came after Leslye Headland—co-creator of the Russian doll— announced that she would no longer be taking on the role.
“I am no longer working on that project. I remain a huge, huge fan of the book and of the people working on it,” Headland told Variety in January 2025. “It’s one of those things where you know it’s going to be a huge success. I thought, ‘Damn it. It’s not going to work out with me involved in it, but it is going to be wildly successful.’”
“It is the type of book that if I’d read it in my twenties, I would have had a completely different life. It’s so beautifully done.”
Along with directing, Betts is reportedly going to be writing the script with Liz Tigelaar—from Tiny Beautiful and Little Fires Everywhere. She will also be working closely with producer Margaret Chernin and with the book’s author—and executive producer—Taylor Jenkins Reid, to make sure that the film remains true to the bestselling novel.
Before Netflix acquired the rights to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, the TV network Freeform (owned by Disney) was going to transform it into a mini-series, but that idea was soon scrapped.
What is the ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ about?
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was originally published in 2017 and follows journalist Monique Grant, who is surprised to hear that she has been invited to write a story for the famous and reclusive actress Evelyn Hugo. As Evelyn details her fame in the mid-to late-1900s, she talks about each of her seven marriages, but it soon becomes clear that Evelyn was trying to hide a secret that might just change Monique’s life forever.
“The inspiration for Evelyn Hugo came from reading Ava Gardner’s biography,” Reid shared in a Goodreads Q+A.
She also shared that “Evelyn Hugo was the first book that I needed to really sit down and sketch out before I started writing. I knew all of her husbands and all of her secrets before I began. It’s not normally that way for me. I usually write with only a beginning and an end in mind. For this book, though, I had to prepare a lot more to make sure everything unfolded properly.”
Aside from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Reid has written After I Do (2014), Maybe In Another Life (2015), One True Loves (2016), Daisy Jones & The Six (2019), Malibu Rising (2021) and Carrie Soto is Back (2022). She also has another book coming out in July of this year entitled Atmosphere.
Reid has had two of her books adapted for the silver screen before. In 2023, Daisy Jones & The Six was turned into a hit TV show starring Riley Keough and Sam Claflin. Also, in 2023, her contemporary romance novel One True Loves became a movie that starred Luke Bracey, Phillipa Soo and Simu Liu.
Details on a ‘Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ release date and cast
As of publication, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo movie has no release date or cast. People online, though, want to see Jessica Chastain or Sadie Sink bring the character Celia St. James to life. They also have voiced their approval for actresses like Ana de Armas, Sofía Vergara and Diane Guerrero to play Evelyn Hugo, but nothing has been confirmed or denied.
