Netflix’s ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ Adaptation Suffers Major Behind-The-Scenes Shakeup

Fans awaiting any news about Netflix’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo film finally have an update, though it’s not necessarily good news. Filmmaker Leslye Headland will no longer direct the upcoming adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling book, she told Variety in an interview published on Jan. 29.

“I am no longer working on that project,” Headland, who recently helmed the Star Wars spin-off The Acolyte and co-created Netflix’s Russian Doll, said. “I remain a huge, huge fan of the book and of the people working on it.”

Headland went on to explain, “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.”

At this time, Netflix has not announced who is replacing Headland as director on the film. In fact, Netflix has been keeping pretty quiet on all things regarding the movie. The streamer hasn’t shared any updates on the film since announcing back in April 2024 that Headland was attached, and there have been no official casting announcements.

Published in 2017, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo centers around Hollywood star Evelyn Hugo. Now aging and having long stepped away from the spotlight, she enlists amateur journalist Monique Grant to write her biography, pulling back the curtain on all seven of her marriages and her one true love.

The book, part of a larger series of interconnected books from Jenkins Reid that also includes Daisy Jones and the Six, Malibu Rising, and Carrie Soto is Back, exploded in popularity on “BookTok,” and has been praised for its LGBTQ themes.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was initial slated to be adapted into a limited series at Freeform, but that idea was seemingly scrapped. In March 2022, it was announced that Netflix was taking over a film adaptation of the book. The script is written by Little Fires Everywhere creator, showrunner and executive producer Liz Tigelaar, who confirmed in Aptil 2024 that “the script is – it’s done.”

“It is now in the hands of the people who are going to make it, and I am so proud of it,” she said. “Taylor Jenkins Reed obviously was an amazing collaborator, amazing to work with, and I can’t wait to see it come to life. I’m so proud of the script and that that movie is hopefully going to be out there.”

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo does not yet have a cast – Jessica Chastain previously confirmed she will not portray Celia St. James – and Netflix hasn’t yet announced a release window for the film.