Robinne Lee — actress best known for her roles in Deliver Us From Eva, Being Mary Jane, Hav Plenty, and the Fifty Shades franchise — wrote a book a decade ago that’s now a hit film on Prime Video.
The Idea Of You stars Anne Hathaway as Solène Marchand, a 40-year-old single mom who winds up in an unexpected romance with 24-year-old superstar singer Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine). Since its release on May 2, Amazon MGM Studios revealed on Tuesday (May 14) that it has garnered nearly 50 million viewers, becoming Amazon MGM Studios’ No. 1 romantic-comedy debut of all time (stream it here).
“The extraordinary reception of The Idea of You has been thrilling — even leading up to the release, with its record-breaking trailer views to its chart-topping soundtrack,” said Julie Rapaport, Head of Film, Production and Development at Amazon MGM Studios, in a statement. “And now, audiences have truly fallen for this film, and we could not be prouder of our stars Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, the brilliant vision of Michael Showalter, and the rest of the enormously talented cast and filmmaking team who made this such a smashing success.”
After surging in popularity in recent years, the book ended up in the hands of Gabrielle Union. Lee and Union starred as sisters in Deliver Us From Eva and “rivals” in Being Mary Jane. Union served as the catalyst to get the book optioned and ultimately signed on as a co-producer once it was confirmed that The Idea Of You was going from book to script to screen.
For Lee, it was important to remind people that a Black woman was behind The Idea Of You. She explained to Variety, “I thought it was important that people knew that a Black woman wrote this book. Because if it inspires one other little girl out there with a journal and a pen to say, ‘I can do this. I can write a story that eventually becomes a movie with a big Oscar-winning actor,’ then I want to be the person for that kid.”
This sentiment came after Lee revealed to Refinery29 that she made the characters white because she tried to sell a book prior to it with a Black protagonist and a white love interest that was rejected.
“I spent six years writing a book prior to writing this book. Right before The Idea of You, [I wrote a book] that I could not sell. It was a Black protagonist. There was a white love interest. And one of the responses I got from an editor at that time was, ‘Oh, well, no, we already have an interracial relationship that we’re putting out this year,’” she confessed. “When I thought about this book, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna sell this book. Nothing’s gonna keep me back.’ If I have to make two white characters, I’m going to make them two white characters, but I’m going to make them very personal and specific to me.”
Ahead of its debut, the trailer alone became the most-watched for any original streaming feature film, with more than 125 million views, Amazon MGM Studios reported. During its press run, the studio hosted 142 screenings dubbed an “international rom-com tour” at famous locations from other classic rom-coms, including the diner from When Harry Met Sally and the Empire State Building for Sleepless in Seattle.
Lee has already teased that she’s written another book, so we may have another masterpiece for our viewing pleasure coming soon. The Idea Of You is now streaming on Prime Video. Watch it here and get the book here.