If your For You page has been aggressively whispering “enemies to lovers” into your ear at 2am, you’re not alone. BookTok has officially bullied Hollywood into giving us what we want: horny, chaotic, emotionally devastating adaptations of our favourite romance reads. And we thank our entertainment overlords for it!
From fake dating academics to cowboy situationships (important cultural text), here’s every book-to-screen adaptation still coming in 2026 that’s primed to ruin your sleep schedule and possibly your expectations of men.
The Love Hypothesis (Prime Video)
How’d we get so lucky?! (Image: Amazon)
Fake dating in STEM? Say less!
Ali Hazelwood’s viral novel is getting the full adaptation treatment, starring Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman. It follows PhD student Olive and her extremely grumpy professor Adam, who enter into a fake relationship after a very impulsive kiss in a hallway.
Reinhart has confirmed it’ll stay true to the book, including the spicy scenes, which is really all the reassurance anyone needed.
Expected late 2026. I will be seated.
I can’t wait!!! (Image: Instagram)
The Windy City Series (Prime Video)
The cover art is questionable, but the story is great! (Image: Book Bundle)
Professional athletes, interconnected storylines, and an unreasonable amount of tension.
Liz Tomforde’s Windy City series is being developed into a TV show after Amazon MGM Studios snapped up the rights. The first book, Mile High, kicks things off with an NHL player and a flight attendant, before expanding into a whole web of sporty romances.
If you were a fan of the show Off Campus, then this new sporty smut will right up your ally!
No release date yet, but spiritually, prepare yourself.
You Deserve Each Other (In cinemas)
The casting is peak! (Image: You Deserve Each Other)
This is for anyone who thinks romance peaks when people are actively ruining each other’s lives.
Meghann Fahy and Penn Badgley are playing a deeply miserable engaged couple who decide to sabotage their own wedding by emotionally tormenting each other until one of them pulls the plug.
The casting in this is honestly perfect because I do think The Bold Type and Gossip Girl should have existed in the same universe. The pair even started a fake feud last year and I applaud their commitment to the bit!
Filming kicked off in 2025, with extra scenes shot recently, so late 2026 or early 2027 is looking likely.
A sneak peek! (Image: Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Chestnut Springs (Netflix)
Don’t mind if I do! (Image: Chestnut Springs)
Yeehaw, but make it deeply inappropriate.
Elsie Silver’s cowboy-heavy series is officially being adapted for Netflix, following the Eaton family and their many, many romantic entanglements.
Between bull riders, small-town drama, and a frankly excessive amount of steam, this one feels engineered for binge-watching.
Rose Hill (Prime Video)
Ms Silver was busy! (Image: Big W)
More Elsie Silver, but this time: single dads.
Amazon confirmed this adaptation recently, based on the Rose Hill series set in the Rocky Mountains. Each book centres on a different love story, and yes, every single one involves a hot single dad.
Make of that what you will.
Every Year After / Every Summer After (Prime Video)
You NEED to read this.(Image: Every Summer After)
If you’re in the mood to feel something (unfortunately), this one drops June 10.
Following Percy (Sadie Soverall) and Sam (Matt Cornett) across years of friendship, heartbreak, and second chances, this adaptation leans heavily into nostalgia and messy timing.
It’s giving summer romance with emotional damage aka my dream book.
Funny You Should Ask (Apple TV+)
Before I met my partner, I fully thought this was going to happen to me. (Image: Funny You Should Ask)
This one has lore.
The story follows a journalist and a movie star whose chaotic interview weekend turns into something much bigger, before reconnecting a decade later.
It’s widely believed to be inspired by a real 2011 GQ profile of Chris Evans, which only adds to the intrigue. Regé-Jean Page is attached as an executive producer and may also star.
The adaptation will be in the form of a series, so we can live through the love story longer. No release date unfortunately, but we’ll keep you updated!
The Bodyguard / Guarding Stars (Netflix)
If anyone knows how to do a Christmas movie, it’s Netflix. (Image: The Bodyguard)
A bodyguard romance, but make it festive!
Starring Leighton Meester and Jared Padalecki, this adaptation of Katherine Center’s novel follows a female bodyguard protecting a famous actor over Christmas.
Be still my nostalgic heart! (Image: Netflix)
The movie will be directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, who did the same for Aquamarine and Ginny & Georgia, so you KNOW it’s going to be good.
Rosenbaum explained her decision to join the project, saying: “The overwhelming enthusiasm on social media and with readers for Katherine Center’s novel was a major factor in my decision to come on board as director.”
I imagine we’ll be getting this one towards the end of the year to get into the Christmas spirit.
It Happened One Summer (In cinemas)
Very Emily Henry vibes. (Image: IMdB)
Cancelled sociallite influencer type gets sent to a small fishing town and falls for a grumpy sea captain. You already know the vibes.
Nina Dobrev and Tyler Hoechlin are giving us the closest thing to the Teen Wolf and Vampire Diaries crossover we all begged for by leading this adaptation. The movie is being directed by Peter Hutchings (The Hating Game), which feels like a promising sign for the genre.
Currently in production, aiming for a cinematic release.
In a Holidaze (Netflix)
Netflix really owns Christmas at this point. Sorry Hallmark! (Image: Amazon)
Time loop, but make it romantic.
Based on the Christina Lauren novel, this one follows a woman reliving the same Christmas over and over until she figures out what she actually wants.
Dance Moms’ Maddie Ziegler continues on her acting journey in the movie alongside a surprisingly stacked cast including Rob Lowe.
A festive 2026 drop feels very plausible.
Verity (In cinemas)
Hopefully the release of this movie goes smoother than Colleen Hoover’s last adaptation. (Image: Verity)
Dark romance girlies, this is will be your sh*t.
Despite the well of controversy with Colleen Hoover’s first book-to-screen adaptation,Verity is getting the big-screen treatment with Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett. The story follows a writer who uncovers disturbing secrets while finishing another author’s work.
I watched the teaser trailer the other day and the romantic psychological thriller is messy, unsettling, and absolutely guaranteed to spark discourse.
Verity comes out on October 1, 2026.
Sunrise on the Reaping (In cinemas)
Not technically romance, but Haymitch Abernathy’s tragic backstory? Emotionally devastating enough to qualify.
This Hunger Games prequel follows a young Haymitch during the 50th Games. Expect heartbreak, chaos, and at least one character you’ll get too attached to (and will probably die). Don’t get mad! That’s not a spoiler, I fear it’s literally the point of the Games.
Out November 19, 2026 in Australia.
Pride and Prejudice (Netflix)
This one’s for the classics girlies! (Image: Penguin)
We are, once again, returning to Mr Darcy.
This new six-part adaptation stars Emma Corrin and Jack Lowden, with Dolly Alderton writing and Euros Lyn directing.
Do we really need another version of these?
I don’t know, BUT it’s being positioned as a faithful retelling, which feels reassuring in an era of chaotic reimaginings.
Coming to Netflix later this year.
Sense and Sensibility (In cinemas)
I can’t wait! (Image: Penguin)
Jane Austen hive, you’re eating this year.
Daisy Edgar-Jones leads this new adaptation of Austen’s debut novel, following the Dashwood sisters navigating love, class, and societal expectations.
Out September 11, 2026.
The Odyssey (In cinemas)
I’ve been waiting for this one! (Image: Amazon)
Look, it’s not smut, but it is Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Tom Holland and so many more in a sweeping, dramatic reunion story, so I’m including it.
This adaptation of Homer’s epic follows Odysseus trying to get home post-war, facing monsters, gods, and general chaos along the way.
The movie will be out July 16 in Australia.
Fourth Wing (Prime Video)
It’s happening!! (Image: Audible)
If you’ve spent even five minutes online, you already know the romantasy girlies have claimed this one with their whole chest. Prime Video officially ordered the adaptation to series in May 2026, with author Rebecca Yarros on board as an executive producer, alongside Michael B. Jordan and Elizabeth Raposo for Outlier Society.
The plot follows Violet Sorrengail, who is forced into Basgiath War College and told to survive training to become a dragon rider, despite originally planning on a much safer life as a scribe.
There’s still no confirmed release date or cast, BUT that hasn’t stopped fans from fan-casting and certain Aussie actors from dropping some major hints that they’re interested in a role.
So yes, the rom-com drought might finally be breaking, and it only took the internet collectively deciding we deserved better.
If you need me, I’ll be emotionally preparing for fictional men to raise my standards again.
