SXSW Sets Anne Hathaway Movie ‘The Idea Of You’ As Closing Night Film

South by Southwest, which runs from March 8-16, will close with fest 2xtime Audience Award winner Michael Showalter’s The Idea of You.

The movie is one of several that the filmmaker has presented or debuted at the festival, including Hello My Name is Doris, which won the Audience Award in 2015, The Big Sick, which won the Audience Award in 2017, critically acclaimed TV series Search Party, and Lovebirds, the latter which was originally scheduled to play the Austin, TX fest before the pandemic canceled the event.

In the movie, Anne Hathaway plays Solène, a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old, Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), who is the lead singer of the hottest boy band, August Moon. 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. In addition to Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, the cast includes Ella Rubin, Reid Scott, Annie Mumolo, Viktor White, Raymond Cham, Jaiden Anthony, and Dakota Adan. The film is based on the beloved novel of the same name by Robinne Lee. 

The Idea of You is produced by Oscar-winner Cathy Schulman, who returns to SXSW after premiering Bernie in 2012 at the festival. Additional producers include Hathaway, Gabrielle Union, Robinne Lee, Eric Hayes, Michael Showalter and Jordana Mollick. The project is presented by Amazon MGM Studios.