The first of many book adaptations based on the works of Emily Henry is expected to hit screens this year.
Deadline exclusively reported the announcement of the People We Meet on Vacation film in development in late 2022, with cast boarding the production nearly two years later starting in August 2024. Yulin Kuang, a writer behind the film adaptation as well as a best-selling author herself, and Emily Henry recently spoke about working on the film together on the first episode of Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club podcast, Bookmarked, a co-production of Hello Sunshine and iHeartPodcasts.
RELATED: Which Emily Henry Books Are Becoming Movies? ‘Happy Place,’ ‘Book Lovers,’ Among Others
For everything we know about the People We Meet on Vacation movie, read on.
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When does ‘People We Meet on Vacation’ come out?
Image Credit: Getty/Danielle Levitt The film will arrive on Netflix January 9, 2026. A teaser clip of Emily Bader’s Poppy asking Alex how he feels about travel accompanied the announcement by the streamer in July 2025.
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Who is in the cast of ‘People We Meet on Vacation’?
Image Credit: Kelsey Hale; Christopher Parsons; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty; Bret Lemke Tom Blyth (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) and Emily Bader (My Lady Jane) will bring main duo Alex Nielsen and Poppy Wright from page to screen. Deadline exclusively broke the news of their casting in August 2024.
The next round of casting announced in September 2024 included Sarah Catherine Hook (The White Lotus), Jameela Jamil (The Good Place), Lucien Laviscount (Emily in Paris), and Lukas Gage (Smile 2).
Next came the grouping of Molly Shannon, Alan Ruck, Miles Heizer, Tommy Do and Alice Lee. While the roles for the ensemble are being kept under wraps, fans will anticipate certain characters from the book like Buck the boat tour guide on Vancouver Island, Poppy’s ex-boyfriend Guillermo, her parents and brothers and of course, Alex’s on-again-off-again girlfriend Sarah Torval.
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What is ‘People We Meet on Vacation’ about?
Image Credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images The story follows a friends to lovers trope, tracing the deep friendship between Poppy and Alex for over ten years since they met in college, at the University of Chicago in Henry’s novel. Every summer, the pair takes a vacation together to a new spot they’ve never visited before, spurred by Poppy’s wanderlust and travel blogger aspirations. The so-called summer trip went well for a while in the book until the much alluded to Croatia vacation.
Though they could not be more opposite, with Alex loving routine while Poppy proves very spontaneous, the duo will be forced to consider what everyone else has been wondering for a while, whether they could be a good romantic match for each other.
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Who is directing ‘People We Meet on Vacation’?
Image Credit: Grandview/Sony Deadline first reported the news that Brett Haley (Hearts Beat Loud, All the Bright Places) would direct the adaptation from Yulin Kuang’s script.
Other credits for Haley include The Hero (2017) which premiered at Sundance in competition, All Together Now also on Netflix and an episode of the Hulu adaptation of John Green’s book Looking for Alaska. He is also developing 36 Questions for Netflix, based on the musical podcast of the same name.
RELATED: 3000 Pictures Taps Brett Haley To Direct Adaptation Of ‘People We Meet On Vacation’
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Who else is behind ‘People We Meet on Vacation’?
Image Credit: Sela-Shiloni Yulin Kuang, author of How to End a Love Story, adapted the screenplay for the film. Kuang is also working on the adaptation of Emily Henry’s Beach Read as both screenwriter and director.
At the time the project was announced, Kuang had most recently sold her feature adaptation of Maureen Goo’s novel I Believe In a Thing Called Love to Netflix with A-Major, Lee Byung-hun and Charles Pak producing and Lee Byung-hun starring. She also sold an original pitch to New Line called Jade Palace. In television, Kuang is adapting and directing a series based on the film 27 Dresses with Aline Brosh McKenna producing for ABC Studios, as well as a Jane Austen-inspired series called Hopeless Romantics for Paramount TV.
Content shared from deadline.com.