After years of an on-and-off relationship, it seems Hollywood is finally falling in love with the romance genre again.
“Wuthering Heights”, a Victorian romance novel, breathed new life into the box office this weekend, with help from stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. “The People We Meet on Vacation,” an adaptation of Emily Henry’s popular novel, tops Netflix’s movie list after January release. And “Passionate rivalry,” a gay hockey romance book turned TV show, has become a cultural phenomenon in just three months since its release.
Producers, agents and executives working in the genre say the recent boom in romance on television and movies is due in large part to studios realizing the power of the core audience that writers help attract to screens. Some studios are now offering these writers six- or seven-figure contracts, making them hot commodities in Hollywood.
“Audiences want to feel that desire,” said Lauren Levine, producing partner of bestselling fiction author Colleen Hoover. The film adaptation of his novel “It Ends With Us,” which cost approximately $25 million to make, raked in more than $351 million at the worldwide box office. His next film, “Reminders of Him,” distributed by Universal Pictures, will debut in March. (Comcast owns NBCUniversal, which is the parent company of NBC News.)
Millions of these fans are part of the online community known as “BookTok.” Avid readers, who often review and share their views on the latest releases, particularly like to gravitate towards the romance genre, or “dirty” books, which include explicit and steamy scenes. Their interest has helped some authors who have been around for years suddenly see their books top bestseller lists almost overnight. It’s a community that grew during the Covid-19 pandemic, Levine said, when fans had no other way to connect.
Maika Monroe as Kenna and Tyriq Withers as Ledger in “Reminders of Him.”Michelle Faye / Universal Pictures”A lot of people think, ‘Oh, it’s about sex,'” Levine said of the genre’s popularity. “The books are spicy, yes, but that’s the least interesting part. It’s about connection, desire and romance.”
Of course, romantic adaptations are nothing new – long before “It Ends With Us”, many popular books – including “A Walk to Remember” (based on the popular book by Nicholas Sparks), “Pride & Prejudice” (which has been remade several times) and “Bridget Jones’s Diary” – enjoyed huge commercial success in the ’90s and 2000s when they were adapted.
But some in the industry credit streaming with helping fill a void they say was left by traditional studios, which have spent the last decade doubling down on investment. superhero adaptations And recycled intellectual property.
“Audiences have always loved romance,” said Kira Goldberg, vice president of film at Netflix. “It’s just that movie studios stopped making them for a while, and streamers seized the opportunity, knowing that these old movies that people made a long time ago are still classics.”
From 2020 to the third quarter of 2025, shows and movies adapted from romance books accounted for 4.5% of Netflix’s streaming revenue, according to Parrot Analytics, with the top shows being “Outlander” (which Netflix picks up after Starz), “Bridgerton” and “You.”
The streamer continues to invest big in romance to meet what Goldberg described as “the needs of an underserved audience.”
On a cold January evening in Los Angeles, Netflix held a summer-themed premiere for “People We Meet on Vacation.” Dozens of BookTokers were among those in attendance, having won tickets through a fan draw. In addition to being among the first to see the film, they received special copies of the book, as well as tote bags celebrating the film.
Emily Bader and Tom Blyth in “People We Meet on Vacation.”Michele K. Short / NetflixThe day after, Netflix announced two upcoming films based on other Henry novels, “Funny Story” and “Happy Place,” making Netflix the home of the unofficial Emily Henry universe.
“Buyers are always asking us for titles in the romance genre,” said Mirabel Michaelson, a UTA agent who represents Ali Hazelwood, the author of “The Love Hypothesis.”
Hazelwood’s book began as “Star Wars” fan fiction about the relationship between the characters Rey and Kylo Ren. It’s now an anticipated film from Amazon MGM this year.
And now, “people are chasing Ali for his next novel,” Michaelson said.
According to the producers, one of the keys to a successful adaptation is casting, although that doesn’t necessarily mean A-list stars.
“You want to please the fans,” said WME agent Mary Pender-Coplan, who represents Henry. “You want the core audience to like it, and then it pulls other people into concentric circles.”
Elizabeth Cantillon, who produces “The Love Hypothesis,” compares the responsibility she feels toward the book’s avid fans to what she felt when she was an executive at Sony Pictures, overseeing the James Bond films and the franchise’s first casting, Daniel Craig.
“My brothers called me and said, ‘Don’t make a mistake,'” Cantillon said of choosing someone to play the British spy. “We had to respect the fans, but we couldn’t just make a movie for the fans.”
In the case of “The Love Hypothesis,” the filmmakers made a casting choice that tickled fans of the book, recruiting Tom Bateman, the husband of Daisy Ridley, who played Rey in the “Star Wars” films, to play the male lead.
“That’s not why we chose him,” Cantillon said of Bateman’s connection to the source material. “But when we did it, people went crazy.”
Often, romance adaptations have budgets between $25 million and $40 million, making them a cheaper option than many competing genres (although the budget for “Wuthering Heights,” directed by Emerald Fennell, is closer to $80 million). This can remove some of the obligation to cast A-list stars and allow filmmakers to instead pursue chemistry and authenticity in the source materials.
The romance genre has also expanded to include “romance,” titles that blend romance and fantasy, such as Rebecca Yarros’ “Fourth Wing,” which Michael B. Jordan’s production company is developing as a series for Amazon Prime, and “Quicksilver,” which Cantillon’s company is adapting for Netflix.
Cantillon said she thinks part of the evidence for the renewed appetite for the genre comes from audiences rewatching old romantic comedies, like films by writer-directors Nancy Meyers and Nora Ephron, over and over again on streaming.
“They’re playing really well and we can really see them again,” Cantillon said. “But doesn’t each generation want its own love story?”
Meyers, widely considered the queen of the romance genre, hasn’t directed a film since “The Intern” in 2015. Warner Bros. gave the green light this month to its next project, a romantic comedy that will hit theaters on Christmas Day 2027.
It seems Meyers is just as excited to get back into it, write on Instagram about the news: “See you at the cinema!”
Rebecca Keegan is the senior Hollywood reporter for NBC News Digital, where she covers the entertainment industry.
