EXCLUSIVE: Amazon MGM opened this year’s SXSW with a bang with Road House, and they’re going to end it tonight with another one, that being Michael Showalter’s Anne Hathaway romance movie, The Idea of You.
But an intriguing stat has arisen before tonight’s world premiere and that is the trailer for The Idea of You has clocked 125M global views across all social media platforms, breaking the record for the most watched trailer for any original streaming movie. The Idea of You hits Prime Video on May 2 in more than 240 countries and territories around the globe.
The second and third most watched trailers for a streaming movie belong to Netflix’s Gal Gadot title, Heart of Stone, and their upcoming summer pic, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. This is all according to WaveMetrix.
Other films in the top 25 include Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Disenchanted, Prey, and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.
Showalter is big vet of SXSW. His Sally Field movie, Hello My Name is Doris won the Audience Award in 2015 and sold to Roadside Attractions for $1.75M. The filmmaker’s The Big Sick won the Audience Award in 2017 and went onto an original screenplay Oscar nomination. In addition, his critically acclaimed TV series Search Party played the fest. His Paramount movie Lovebirds was originally scheduled to play the Austin, TX event before Covid shut it down.
Blurb for The Idea of You: Hathaway plays Solène, a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine). He’s the lead singer of August Moon, the hottest boy band on the planet. When Solène must step in to chaperone her teenage daughter’s trip to the Coachella Music Festival after her ex bails at the last minute, she has a chance encounter with Hayes and there is an instant, undeniable spark. As they begin a whirlwind romance, it isn’t long before Hayes’ superstar status poses unavoidable challenges to their relationship, and Solène soon discovers that life in the glare of his spotlight might be more than she bargained for.
The Idea of You was written by Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt, based upon the novel by Robinne Lee. Producers are Cathy Schulman p.g.a., Gabrielle Union p.g.a., Anne Hathaway p.g.a., Robinne Lee, Eric Hayes, Michael Showalter and Jordana Mollick.
Pic also stars Nicholas Galitzine, Ella Rubin, Reid Scott, Annie Mumolo, Raymond Cham Jr., Viktor White, Jaiden Anthony, Dakota Adan, Perry Mattfeld, Mathilda Gianopoulos and Jordan Aaron Hall.
The Idea of You premieres tonight at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, TX at 7PM CT.