Regretting You is a bestselling novel by Colleen Hoover, first published in 2019, and now adapted into a 2025 romantic drama film directed by Josh Boone.
Colleen Hoover’s stories are known for powerful emotions, tumultuous relationships and unforgettable characters. Regretting You is no exception. “Audiences will have a fun and emotional experience,” Hoover says. “It is something you can watch with friends and family and feel good about, then go back and watch it a second time with a different group of friends. It’s just a real feel good movie.”
Producer Brunson Green guarantees that Hoover fans are going to love the movie. “We captured the essence of the story with all the juicy, fun, twisty plot points,” he explains. “And we wrap it all up in less than two hours. So it’s a two-hour roller coaster ride of emotions.”
The film was made for a universal audience, says director Josh Boone. “The situations are not something that most people will ever have to deal with, but the characters she creates are so relatable that everyone finds something familiar in them. This movie will certainly be great for mothers and daughters to see together, but not only them. If you’re a fan of the genre, you’ll like it. If you’ve got a mom or a daughter you love a lot, but have some problems communicating with, you’ll like it even more.”
“Women can bring their boyfriends and their husbands and they’re going to love it too,” adds Green. “We’ve already talked to a lot of men that watched it and said it wasn’t typically their kind of movie, but they absolutely loved it. That is the ultimate compliment to us.”
Producer Flavia Viotti’s wish is that viewers leave full of hope. “Hope for a second chance. Hope for love. The hope of overcoming grief, overcoming loss and knowing that there is always a way to rebuild your life. I don’t believe in regrets. Even if you have made mistakes in the past that doesn’t mean you have to regret them. They have brought you to where you are now.”
There are certainly heartbreaking moments in the movie, but ultimately the filmmakers want audiences to be uplifted by the tale. “No matter what, life keeps going and things keep happening. says Boone. “You are going to laugh again. I say that from experience.”
Based on the bestselling book, Regretting You introduces audiences to Morgan Grant (Allison Williams) and her daughter Clara (Mckenna Grace) as they explore what’s left behind after a devastating accident reveals a shocking betrayal and forces them to confront family secrets, redefine love, and rediscover each other. Regretting You is a story of growth, resilience, and self-discovery in the aftermath of tragedy.
For producers Flavia Viotti, p.g.a. and Anna Todd, an opportunity to bring one of Colleen Hoover’s popular novels to the screen was irresistible
The pair are longtime fans of Hoover’s work, as well as friends of the author, whose work ranges from contemporary romances to psychological thrillers. Hoover has sold more than 23 million books, making her one of the world’s most popular authors and one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.
Viotti, CEO of Bookcase Literary Agency and Todd, author of the much-loved After book series and founder of Frayed Pages Media, teamed up to produce Hoover’s Regretting You for the big screen. “The film is a story about loss, but it’s about much more than just loss,” says Viotti. “It is also about finding forgiveness and overcoming grief. The mix of drama and romance and family convinced us that we had to make it into a film.”
Todd and Viotti reached out to Brunson Green, p.g.a., president of Harbinger Pictures, to help them develop the book for the screen. “I leaped on it immediately,” says Green, who received an Oscar® nomination for producing The Help. “I have always enjoyed making books into movies, but a Colleen Hoover novel is its own genre. She has such an avid fan base. I wasn’t yet part of what is sometimes called the ‘Hoover-verse,’ so Flavia and Anna invited me to the Book Bonanza, which is an annual charity event founded by Colleen. Three thousand book lovers come in to meet authors and get their books signed. I met Colleen for the first time in her natural habitat, signing 500 books in two hours.”
What all of Hoover’s books have in common, according to Green, is that they grab people by the heartstrings. “Readers fall in love with the characters. There’s always a hint of something that makes you feel, that could be me! Her deft use of humor keeps the melodrama from spinning out of control. And in the end, you’ve got your tissues out because you’re so happy for the characters in their final resolution.”
Screenwriter Susan McMartin, who had penned the script for Todd’s first film, agreed to adapt Hoover’s novel, and they were on their way.
The producers were elated when Josh Boone, director of fan favorite teen romance The Fault in Our Stars, agreed to helm the project. “The Fault in Our Stars had me crying my eyes out,” says Green. “When Anna, Flavia and I got on a Zoom with Josh, it was a lovefest. We knew he was the right director when he mentioned a few scenes from the book that he felt had to appear in the movie. They were all scenes that Anna, Flavia and I had already agreed were essential to the story.”
Viotti says that she cannot think of anyone better suited to direct this film. “We were looking for a director who could create an environment that actors would feel comfortable to bring those big emotions to,” says Viotti. “Josh knows how to bring out the best in actors.”
Adapting any novel into a screenplay and then a film brings its own unique set of challenges, according to Boone. “When it’s a book like this that a lot of people already love, it becomes an extremely collaborative process involving multiple producers who all have their own ideas. When the actors come in, they’re going to have their own opinions. I find it exciting to be part of a group trying to make something as good as it can possibly be.”
“Once I read the script, I jumped in. Regretting You is a coming-of-age story about relationships between parents and children growing up, like my previous films Stuck in Love and The Fault in Our Stars. I have always been and always will be attracted to movies about families, specifically kids who are finding out that their parents are fallible. That’s an important moment in anybody’s life.”
The inspiration for the story was the relationship between Hoover’s sister Lynn and her mother.
Hoover adds that watching the film for the first time, she fell in love with the characters all over again. “It all felt all new to me. Regretting You is about Morgan and Clara Grant, a mother and daughter struggling to get past an unthinkable loss. They’re constantly at odds about so many things going in their lives. The story about understanding and forgiveness, and about learning to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. With any book or movie, I want to feel all of the emotions. The thing I was the most worried about was, will I feel all the heartbreak? Will I also laugh out loud? And it checks all the boxes!”
Hoover says that she knew the filmmakers had gotten it right as soon as she viewed the opening moments of the movie. “That scene was so close to the book and worked so well on camera,” she raves. “I think that readers are going to be really pleased. The book is sad sometimes. Life can be sad sometimes, so it’s important to find moments of lightheartedness. By the end, you get your closure, even on the sad parts of it.”
A tender romance between 17-year-old Clara and classmate Miller Adams is nimbly interwoven with the growing attraction between her 35-year-old mother and lifelong friend Jonah. “The romance is very important to the characters and their journey, but it’s not in the driver’s seat,” says Hoover. “The story centers on the mother-daughter relationship and the journey that brings them into their romances. Of course Jonah and Miller are incredibly important to the story because they help Morgan and Clara start to move forward.”
Boone agrees, saying, “The tragedies, the betrayals and the secrets drive the plot, but events are less important than the impact they have on Morgan and Clara personally and emotionally. I have a special place in my heart for a couple in love for the first time, like Clara and Miller.
JOSH BOONE (Director) is the filmmaker behind The Fault in Our Stars, the acclaimed adaptation of John Green’s bestseller. He also wrote and directed Stuck in Love., starring Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly, Marvel film The New Mutants and the 2020 limited series “The Stand,” based on the classic Stephen King novel.
In 2024 Boone teamed up with longtime collaborators Bright Eyes (band member Nate Walcott scores all of Boone’s work) for the music video to their single “Bells and Whistles.”
SUSAN McMARTIN (Writer) has penned such feature films as After, an adaptation of the internationally bestselling book series by Anna Todd that became a massive, worldwide film franchise spawning four sequels. McMartin also wrote Bruce Beresford’s critically acclaimed dramedy Mr. Church, starring Eddie Murphy, and adapted the novel Miracle on Voodoo Mountain as a feature. On the television side, McMartin is the showrunner, EP and co-creator of the new Netflix hit comedy series “Leanne,” co-created with Chuck Lorre. She was a co-executive producer on the acclaimed series “Mom” for eight seasons. Before “Mom” McMartin was a writer and producer on the long-running sitcom “Two and a Half Men.”
McMartin was born in New York and raised in Los Angeles. She is the daughter of esteemed Broadway actor John McMartin and a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Early in her career she received a story credit on the Pauly Shore feature Son in Law and penned seven episodes of NBC’s daytime drama “Another World.” Her other TV writing credits include ABC’s “Port Charles,” Showtime’s “Californication” and CBS’ “Gary Unmarried.”
McMartin’s book Understanding the Fall, based on her experience growing up with an alcoholic mother, has been on the bestsellers list in Amazon’s addiction and recovery section. She has performed readings in jails, juvenile halls and recovery homes throughout Los Angeles.
Colleen Hoover is a bestselling American author born on December 11, 1979, in Sulphur Springs, Texas. She began her writing career in 2011 with the self-published novel Slammed, which quickly gained traction through word-of-mouth and social media. Hoover’s emotionally charged stories—often centered on love, trauma, and personal growth—have earned her a devoted fanbase and numerous accolades, including multiple Goodreads Choice Awards. Her breakout novel It Ends with Us (2016) tackled domestic abuse with raw honesty and was followed by a successful sequel, It Starts with Us (2022). Hoover’s books have sold over 20 million copies worldwide, and several are being adapted for film, including Regretting You (2025). She’s also the founder of The Bookworm Box, a charity bookstore that has donated over $1 million to various causes.
