Author Tessa Bailey’s bestselling romance novel It Happened One Summer is getting its own feature adaptation, Deadline has reported. The feature will be produced by BCDF Pictures and Frolic Media. Published in July last year the book garnered rave reviews and spent 10 weeks on the USA Today bestseller list. In March 2022, Bailey released a sequel Hook, Line and Sinker, focused on two characters from the first book.
It Happened One Summer chronicles LA socialite Piper Bellinger, who is reeling after a fall from grace. Given her bad choices and out-of-control partying, her step-father cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister Hannah to learn some responsibility while running their late father’s dive bar. So she finds herself stuck in the small town where she was born for the summer.
In the small town of Westport, Piper bumps into a local fishing boat captain Brendan Taggert, who does not think she belongs. Nonetheless, she is determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face. The two are polar opposites, but sometimes opposites attract.
It Happened One Summer is the first installment in Bailey’s #1 New York Times and #1 USA Today bestselling Bellinger Sisters series.
“From this moment on, I am living to see Brendan and Piper brought to life on screen. I’m thrilled and honored that BCDF Pictures and Frolic Media want to make this happen!” Bailey said. BCDF’s Claude Dal Farra adds, “We are excited to be continuing our journey into wonderful romantic comedy adaptations.”
The book will be adapted by Christina Mengert of The Hating Game which reached #3 on the iTunes Top Movie Rentals Chart only behind No Time to Die and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and was #1 on the iTunes Independent Movie Rental Chart for six consecutive weeks. Adapting alongside Mengert is Joseph Muszynski of The Unhoneymooners.
Alongside Dal Farra, Brian Keady will also produce for BCDF. “Our mission at Frolic is to tell great love stories, and we are thrilled to be working with our partners at BCDF to bring Bailey’s swoon-worthy novel to life,” said Lisa Berger, producer, Frolic Media.
BCDF’s future production includes Big Rig, starring Vanessa Hudgens, The Ploughmen, directed by Ed Harris; Which Brings Me to You, starring Lucy Hale, To Leslie, starring Andrea Riseborough and Allison Janney, and an adaptation of Gabrielle Zevin’s International Bestseller The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, starring Kunal Nayyar, Christina Hendricks, and Hale among others.
There is currently no release date for It Happened One Summer.
