Your television, tablets or wherever you access your Amazon Prime subscription will be graced with The Idea of You when its release date finally arrives on the 2024 movie schedule. However, it’s a shame that no one will be able to go to the movie theaters on May 2 to see the film. As someone who got to see this movie starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine on the big screen, I think it makes for the perfect movie theater experience. And it turns out, Anne Hathaway has thoughts about this topic too.
I Got To See The Idea Of You In Theaters, And I Wish Others Could Too
I had the pleasure of seeing the adaptation of The Idea of You via a press screening, not long after the romance was met with great reviews out of SXSW. The screen was huge, the volume was cranked, and I was with a bunch of other people. The film follows Hathaway’s character as she falls for the frontman of the boyband August Moon. So, this means we have romance, we have meet-cutes and we have bangin’ boyband music. All of this adds up to a great theatrical experience.
Being able to swoon at Hathaway and Galitzine’s on-screen relationship, laugh at the funny and awkward moments and verbally awww at the screen as these two fall for each other with a crowd is so fun. Hearing everyone else’s reactions to this movie made it even better.
Not to mention, the fictional boyband in the movie, August Moon, has some incredible musical numbers. Let’s just say the experience is heavily enhanced if you can see it on a big screen with the volume turned up so high you can feel the music.
All this is to say, it’s fun to be with a giant group of people oo-ing and awe-ing at the screen as you watch a thrilling and emotional romance like this one. Just look at the sneaky box office success of Anyone But You, and you’ll see that there’s a craving for romance on a big screen, and this would have been a perfect one for it.
What Anne Hathaway Said About The Idea Of You Going Straight To Streaming
To an extent, Anne Hathaway agrees with me. The Idea of You is the latest massive Amazon movie to go straight to streaming – we also wish Road House could have gotten a theatrical release – and it’s still surprising to see a bigger budget A-list film like this end up directly on a streaming platform. To this point, the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation’s star spoke about this choice, telling Variety:
I’ve never had a movie this size be released [exclusively] on streaming … so I’m not really in a place to answer that question. Part of me is excited that such a wide audience is going to have instant access to it. And a part of me [is aware that] there aren’t a lot of reasons for moms to grab each other by the hand and go to the movie theater; this movie would’ve been perfect for that.
I agree with Hathaway. The Idea of You would be the ideal movie for a girls night out, and I’m bummed people won’t be able to do that. However, there is something to be said about a girls night in that involves a movie marathon. To this point, the actress said:
Some of my favorite romantic comedies came out in the ’90s and I watched them on home video. I never saw the original theatrical runs of ‘Pretty Woman,’ ‘Notting Hill’ or ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ — clearly, I’m a Julia Roberts fan! —but I loved them. A part of me loves the idea of having a huge worldwide theatrical hit. But it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the opportunity to have a different kind of [moviegoing experience].
I totally get where she’s coming from. Some of the best rom-coms that impacted my life the most I saw at home on VHS or DVD. I saw When Harry Met Sally, 10 Things I Hate About You, and The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement, for example, from the comfort of my couch, not in a theater, and they’ve all been the subjects of many movie nights in. So, there is something to be said about watching a good romance at home.
However, that also doesn’t diminish the fact that I want people to see one of Amazon’s best movies on a big screen like I did. Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine deserve it, The Idea of You deserves it, and all the romance girlies deserve it.