Netflix's Evelyn Hugo Movie Taps Star Wars: The Acolyte's Leslye Headland to Direct

The long-awaited adaptation of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo has officially found a director. On Thursday, it was announced that Leslye Headland is on board to direct the The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo movie, which is in the works for Netflix. The film was first announced to be in the works in March of last year, with Liz Tigelaar (Little Fires Everywhere, Life Unexpected) working on the script. Headland is best known for her work on Russian Doll and Bachelorette, as well as the forthcoming Disney+ series Star Wars: The Acolyte. According to the reporting, the Evelyn Hugo movie "had every high-profile director in town chasing it for months."

Based on Daisy Jones and the Six author Taylor Jenkins Reid's novel of the same name, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Evelyn Hugo has been a bonafide hit since it was published in 2017, most recently thanks to the "BookTok" corner of TikTok, with hashtags and topics surrounding the novel gaining millions of views. At the time of this writing, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo has spent 120 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller Paperback list.

An adaptation of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo has been in the works in some capacity since 2019, with Freeform and Fox 21 Television Studios originally planning to develop it. That adaptation would have been written by Reid with Jennifer Beals and The L Word's Ilene Chaiken producing, but fell out when Freeform no longer owned the rights to the project in 2021.

What is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo about?

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo follows reclusive Hollywood legend Evelyn Hugo, who chooses an unknown reporter, Monique Grant, to tell her life story. Evelyn recounts her time in the Golden Age of Hollywood, her rise to fame, and her seven marriages – revealing stunning secrets and lies. But through it all one question remains: Why has she chosen Monique for her final confession?

"I just decided that what I wanted to do was tell a heartbreakingly honest story, and you might like Evelyn and you might not like her," Reid explained in a 2017 interview with PopSugar. "My guess is most people, regardless of whether they like her or not, will respect her. That's another thing that, as I get older, I'm realizing can be diametrically opposed when it comes to being a woman. Being likable and being respected are sometimes something we have to choose between. As I grow as a person, I'm trying to err towards the latter, that I would rather be respected than liked, and I think my characters are going in that direction."

Will Jessica Chastain star in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo?

One popular "fancast" for Evelyn Hugo has been for Oscar-winning actress Jessica Chastain to portray Celia St. James, a fellow actress who plays a key role in Evelyn Hugo's life. Earlier this year, after a fan asked Chastain to sign their copy of Evelyn Hugo while at the stage door for her production of A Doll's House, the actress took to Twitter to explain why she feels like she shouldn't autograph anything tied to the project.

"I've been asked multiple times by fans, to sign books that I'm not attached to contractually," Chastain explained. "Because it feels wrong, and like Im taking credit for someone else's work, I'll say I cant sign because I'm not doing it. That doesn't mean I've read a bad script. I know how excited many you are about adaptations. Please dont read too much into a video. There is no news about anything."

What do you think of Leslye Headland signing on for the The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo movie? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!