Gavin Leatherwood has joined the cast of It Happened One Summer, the upcoming romantic comedy adaptation of Tessa Bailey’s bestselling novel. Production is currently underway in New York, with Leatherwood joining an ensemble led by Nina Dobrev, Tyler Hoechlin, and Virginia Gardner. The adaptation brings one of BookTok’s most popular contemporary romance novels to the screen, continuing Hollywood’s growing interest in bestselling online literary sensations.
The story follows Piper Bellinger, a glamorous Los Angeles socialite whose carefully curated lifestyle collapses after a viral scandal leaves her publicly disgraced. Cut off from her family’s financial support, Piper is sent to a small fishing town with one condition: restore her late father’s rundown dive bar or lose her inheritance. There she meets Brendan Taggart, a reserved sea captain whose no-nonsense personality immediately clashes with Piper’s city lifestyle, setting the stage for an unlikely romance.
Leatherwood will portray Fox Thornton, Brendan’s charismatic best friend. Although known for his confidence and easy charm, Fox hides a more vulnerable side beneath his carefree exterior. Announcing the casting, director Peter Hutchings said finding the right actor for the role had been challenging, adding that Leatherwood became “the missing piece” once he joined the project. Author Tessa Bailey, who also serves as an executive producer, praised the chemistry of the cast, saying the ensemble had come together in a special way.
Nina Dobrev stars as Piper Bellinger, while Tyler Hoechlin plays Brendan Taggart and Virginia Gardner portrays Piper’s younger sister, Hannah Bellinger. Leatherwood is best known for playing Nicholas Scratch in Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, while Dobrev rose to prominence through The Vampire Diaries. Hoechlin is widely recognized for Superman & Lois, and Gardner has appeared in films including Fall and the 2018 Halloween.
The film is directed by Peter Hutchings, who previously helmed The Hating Game, from a screenplay by Christina Mengert and Joseph Muszynski. Production is led by BCDF Pictures, with producers Claude Dal Farra and Brian Keady, while Frolic Media’s Lisa Berger and Samantha Martin serve as executive producers alongside Tessa Bailey and members of the principal cast. Embankment is handling worldwide sales for the project.
The adaptation arrives as Hollywood continues to embrace bestselling BookTok titles for film and television. Novels that build passionate online communities often bring an established global audience before cameras even begin rolling, making them increasingly attractive to studios and producers looking for proven intellectual property. It Happened One Summer is among the platform’s biggest romance successes, having been translated into 25 languages and selling more than two million copies in the United States alone. It also launched Bailey’s highly successful Bellinger Sisters series, one of the most popular contemporary romance franchises of the past decade.
With filming now underway, It Happened One Summer continues to build an ensemble that combines established television stars with rising talent. As one of the most successful BookTok romance novels makes its transition to the big screen, the adaptation is moving steadily through production with an experienced creative team and a built-in global fanbase already eager to see Bailey’s bestselling story brought to life.
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