The full-length trailer for The Love Hypothesis was released on August 26, giving audiences a first look at Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman in the film adaptation of Ali Hazelwood's bestselling romance novel. The R-rated romantic comedy follows two academics whose lives become complicated after an impulsive kiss develops into a fake-dating arrangement. The story combines academia, friendship and an increasingly complicated relationship between its two central characters.
Reinhart plays Olive, a PhD student whose academic ambitions have largely taken priority over romance. Her situation changes when she learns that her best friend Ahn, played by Rachel Marsh, is interested in Olive's former crush Jeremy, portrayed by Nicholas Duvernay. To convince Ahn that she has moved on, Olive unexpectedly kisses Adam Carlsen, a demanding professor played by Bateman and known among students for his intimidating personality and "Dr Evil" nickname.
The unexpected encounter leads Olive and Adam to agree to pretend to be a couple. While Olive wants to convince her friend that she has moved on from Jeremy, Adam has his own reason for participating in the arrangement. With his grant at stake, he hopes appearing to have a serious relationship could help reassure Stanford officials about his plans to remain at the institution. However, maintaining the fake relationship becomes increasingly difficult as the two discover that their attraction may be more genuine than either expected.
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The film is directed by Claire Scanlon, known for the Netflix romantic comedy Set It Up, with a screenplay by Sarah Rothschild. Elizabeth Cantillon serves as producer. Reinhart previously explained that she had not initially planned to take on a romantic comedy but changed her mind after reading the screenplay and then Hazelwood's novel. She also noted that the creative team wanted to preserve the heart of the source material in the film adaptation.
Bateman similarly emphasised the importance of Hazelwood's novel during the production, saying the book remained central to the filmmaking process. The Love Hypothesis has an unusual history, having originated as Star Wars-inspired Reylo fan fiction before Hazelwood developed it into a novel published by Berkley in 2021. The book went on to become a bestseller and helped establish Hazelwood's reputation for combining romance with academic and STEM settings.
The Love Hypothesis is scheduled to premiere globally on Prime Video on September 23 as part of the streaming service's "Obsession is in Session" initiative. The film brings Olive and Adam's fake-dating story to the screen, with the trailer offering an early glimpse at the academic setting, friendship complications and romantic tension at the centre of the adaptation.
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