Ali Hazelwood The love hypothesis is getting the film adaptation treatment, and while it's exciting news for romantic movie fans, there's another Hazelwood book that should be adapted first. The name Ali Hazelwood should not match any real person when searched in a government database because is the pseudonym of an Italian professor of neuroscience who successfully dabbled in writing novels. While Ali Hazelwood's real name has yet to be revealed, perhaps, like Stephen King before her, in time, her name will become as ubiquitous as her pen name.
Because of his STEM background, Many of Hazelwood's books focus on women in science and other academic fields. She began writing in 2021, with her debut novel, The love hypothesiswhich was originally a Star Wars fanfic about Rey and Kylo Ren (via Vulture). She didn't stop with one book, however, and has since written six more novels, as well as a collection of novellas. In 2023, she interrupted her teaching career and became a full-time writer, likely the announced adaptation of her debut played a role in that decision (via WGBH).
The Love Hypothesis is a perfect film adaptation because it was Ali Hazelwood's first book
Most fans sought out the author for her debut novel
The love hypothesis it was a great success. Originally published online under the title Head over feet in 2018, Hazelnut made some changes to his story, including removing any and all references to Star Wars and changing the characters' names to Olive Smith and Adam Carlsen. In the novel, Olive is a third-year biology PhD student at Stanford who is tired of her best friend Anh always commenting on her love life. To avoid the questions entirely, she fakes a relationship with a new professor, Dr. Adam Carlsen, although the fake feelings begin to turn into something real.
Hazelwood's debut novel made the New York Times list of best sellers in 2021 and was celebrated for placing a woman in STEM at the center of the story, an unusual character for a novel. The author's training in the specific area makes her descriptions and situations seem fully realized. In 2022, it was announced that The love hypothesis would be joining the novel-to-film pipeline with an adaptation from Elizabeth Cantillon's label Bisous Pictures (via Deadline). Hazelwood said of the adaptation,
“It’s a real privilege to have Elizabeth and such a talented and experienced team working on adapting The Love Hypothesis, and I’m so excited about this next step in Olive and Adam’s story!”
It's great news for Hazelwood and for fans who were first introduced to her via The love hypothesisbut there is another book that also deserves adaptation treatment.
Ali Hazelwood's Bride Must Be Adapted First
Bride is a more cinematic story that will attract new audiences
Bride is the fifth book by Ali Hazelwood, premiering on February 6, 2024. The film is a fantasy romance that follows a dangerous union between Misery Lark, a vampire bride, and Lowe Moreland, the head of a werewolf clan. In order for Misery to be accepted back into a society from which she was expelled, she agrees to a peacekeeping mission by marrying Moreland. Bride It's a slightly more polished novel than The love hypothesis and Misery is a much more cinematic character than Oliviawith its intelligence and darkness.
Viewers who are unfamiliar with Ali Hazelwood would benefit from seeing Bride adapted first, as its characters, story, and Hazelwood's writing are better suited to the cinematic medium. Furthermore, there may end up being some controversial rights issues with The love hypothesis considering it started as a Star Wars adaptation. The infamously litigious House of Mouse may have something to say about this. Either way, having a Hazelwood adaptation, whatever it may be, is better than having none.