EXCLUSIVE: After locking down rights in a major pre-empt prior to publication, Netflix has launched development on a feature adaptation of Deep End, the instant #1 NYT bestselling New Adult romance from The Love Hypothesis‘ Ali Hazelwood.

Published in 2025 by Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House, Deep End centers on the steamy college romance between a competitive diver and an ace swimmer jumping into forbidden waters.

Laura Kosann has been tapped to pen the script, with Shawn Levy and Dan Levine set to produce via 21 Laps, alongside Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan from Unwell Productions. Hazelwood will exec produce, alongside Matthew Janzen for Unwell Productions, with Emily Morris and Emily Feher overseeing for 21 Laps.

Since publication, Deep End has been licensed in 21 territories, selling nearly 1.5 million copies worldwide.

News of the feature adaptation underscores Netflix’s commitment to the BookTok space, and to the red-hot New Adult space, in particular. The streamer has won over New Adult authors who have seen book sales bolstered by adaptation buzz, as in the case of People We Meet on Vacation, an adaptation of Emily Henry’s bestselling romance released earlier this year. After selling nearly three million print copies in the U.S., the book leaped back onto the New York Times bestseller list and doubled sales across all formats in the two weeks after the film hit Netflix.

Netflix’s most recent project announced in the space, prior to Deep End, was Icebreaker, an adaptation of Hannah Grace’s bestselling contemporary sports romance, also to be produced by Unwell.

Deep End marks a second feature adaptation for Hazelwood, whose romantic comedy novel The Love Hypothesis, produced by Amazon MGM and MRC, is slated for release on Prime Video on September 23. A neuroscience PhD turned professor and researcher, she left academia to pursue writing full-time in 2022 and has sold more than 10 million copies of her work worldwide. Other novels from the author include Love Theoretically and Bride. She is repped by UTA and Thao Le at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

Most recently, screenwriter Kosann adapted the bestselling novel Butcher & Blackbird for director Chris McKay, with Lyrical Media and Ryder Picture Company producing. She also was recently tapped by Sony to adapt the hit Chinese comedy Hi, Mom for English-language audiences and is currently developing her original project Pasttimes with A/Vantage. Also in the works is an adaptation of Semper Maternus, her original sci-fi thriller featured on the 2022 Black List, which is being produced by Stacey Sher and her Shiny Penny Productions, with Salma Hayek and Riley Keough attached to star. Kosann is repped by CAA, Untitled, and Jennifer Gray at Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.

21 Laps is coming off of Backrooms, the smash-hit creepypasta horror film from Kane Parsons, which is now A24’s highest-grossing film to date at over $394M worldwide. They produced that one alongside North Road, Atomic Monster, Phobos and Oddfellows Pictures, with A24 and Chernin Entertainment co-financing. Next up, the company has the Emma Stone rom-com The Catch, releasing via Universal next May, and the Levy-helmed Star Wars: Starfighter, out the same month.

Best known for producing Cooper’s podcasting phenomenon Call Her Daddy, Unwell makes one of its first major forays into scripted with Deep End. Past projects include the two-part docu special Call Her Alex, dating reality series Love Overboard and the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special. Upcoming, they have the Netflix reality series Let’s Marry Harry, chronicling reality star Harry Jowsey’s pursuit of true love, out August 5.

Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy.

Comments On Deadline Hollywood are monitored. So don't go off topic, don't impersonate anyone, and don't get your facts wrong.

Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );