Anne Hathaway to Star in Adaptation of Colleen Hoover Thriller Verity

This article is part of a directory: The 2026 Fall Preview

Anne Hathaway is having quite a year. She saved journalism in The Devil Wears Prada 2, fought dinosaurs in The End of Oak Street, and most important of all, slapped Matt Damon in The Odyssey. However, Hathaway may be taking on her biggest challenge yet in her next movie as the mysterious and potentially dangerous novelist Verity Crawford.

Based on the best-selling book by Colleen Hoover, Verity stars Anne Hathaway as an injured, best-selling writer whose husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), hires a struggling writer, Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) to help finish his wife’s book. But the more Lowen learns about Verity, the scarier the situation becomes. Director Michael Showalter describes it to Polygon as more of a twisted, dirty thriller.

Ahead of the film’s release next month, Polygon connected with Showalter for our 2026 Fall Preview and asked him five questions about what to expect from Anne Hathaway’s performance.

1. What is Verity about?

Verity is an erotic thriller, a twisted and dirty thriller. Three interesting characters are stuck in a house together. It is a Colleen Hoover book, but it occupies a different genre than her other book adaptations. It is sexy, scary, creepy, and suspenseful.

2. What excited you about Verity?

Amazon executives showed the script, and Michael Showalter loved the story. The material offered elements he had never seen before and felt like a visual narrative. The characters experience major tragedies, love affairs, violence, and career fluctuations.

3. How involved was Colleen Hoover in the movie?

Colleen Hoover worked on set for portions of shooting. She and Michael Showalter discussed the project during pre-production while preparing the script. Michael Showalter spent time talking with her about the book and her intentions to understand her perspective. She also worked on the script as a collaborator.

4. Anne Hathaway is having a big year. What’s special about this performance?

Anne Hathaway brings a high level of commitment to her role alongside her acting ability. That level of dedication creates an energetic environment for everyone else on set.

5. Will fans of Anne Hathaway be surprised by Verity?

The character of Verity is complicated. Anne Hathaway needed to create multiple types of characters for the audience to feel strongly about. That task requires viewers to question whether Verity is trustworthy or potentially the villain. Flashbacks place the audience on a journey with her, creating conflicting feelings about which version of the character to believe.

Verity releases in theaters on Oct. 2.

Source: Polygon