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First look at Colleen Hoover’s Regretting You: The Hoover-verse stays strong despite Baldoni-Lively legal drama
From Dave Franco’s pure-hearted character to Allison Williams swearing through takes, here's a peak behind the curtains of Regretting You
The Colleen Hoover cinematic universe is expanding despite the debris left behind by Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively's explosive legal drama circa It Ends With Us (2024). Regretting You, Hoover’s bestselling 2019 novel, has officially made its way to the screen. Directed by The Fault in Our Stars’ (2014) Josh Boone, the adaptation stars Allison Williams and McKenna Grace as a mother-daughter duo unraveling after a devastating loss. The cast also includes Dave Franco, Scott Eastwood, Mason Thames, and Willa Fitzgerald.
The first trailer drops Tuesday, and fans are already dissecting the first-look photos shared by Entertainment Weekly — from funeral scenes and porch conversations to charged glances that scream “Hoover heartbreak incoming.” The film hits theaters on October 24, 2025, and if the cast and crew’s behind-the-scenes stories are any hint, it’s about to be a messy, beautiful emotional rollercoaster.
Dave Franco plays a good guy this time and he’s loving it
Known for his darker or slightly offbeat roles, Franco describes Jonah, his Regretting You character, as “pretty pure-hearted and to a fault sometimes.” He adds, about his character: “He is always trying to do the right thing, even if it goes against what his heart is telling him.”
Laughing, he reflects, “I usually play either villains or very morally corrupt characters… but it's nice to play a character that is hopefully a little bit closer to who I am in real life.” He further said, “That's been really, really fun — to not start in a place where I feel like I've dug a hole for myself… I can now start in a good place where audiences will hopefully be on board with me from the get-go.”
Allison Williams brings tears and improv
After turning heads in M3GAN, Allison Williams is back, but in a very different emotional space. “My whole nervous system and my tear ducts really need the levity,” she says of moving between horror, drama, and her improv roots. “As you may see in this scene, in every scene, I cannot resist the urge to punctuate these scenes with improv that can never end up in the movie because it's a PG-13 movie and I swear like a sailor,” she said further.
Even with a heavy emotional load, she admits comedy is where her instincts still pull her. “Given that my only formal training is improv comedy, it's just sort of the crutch I rely on every once in a while.”
For Hoover fans, there are Easter eggs everywhere
Producer Brunson Green teased that Regretting You includes “little things sprinkled in” for die-hard fans of Colleen Hoover’s books. “She does have her own cult following in a way that you want to make a nod and a wink to say that you appreciate that they're checking out the film,” he said.
What is Regretting You about?
At its heart, the film explores the strained bond between Morgan (Williams) and Clara (Grace), a mother and daughter forced to grieve differently after the sudden death of Morgan’s husband (played by Scott Eastwood). As both women process the tragedy, secrets are revealed, relationships tested, and trust fractured. The story’s core isn’t just about love, it’s about how we rebuild when the person we trusted most disappears.
