Anne Hathaway’s upcoming movie The Idea of You has reportedly received an R (Restricted) rating. This means that anyone under the age of 17 has to be accompanied by a parent or grownup guardian to watch the movie. The R rating is usually given if the movie has adult material.

In this case, The Idea of You apparently contains “some language and s*xual content,” which is the reason for the certification.

Along with Hathaway, the forthcoming Amazon-backed romantic drama also stars Nicholas Galitzine.

The British actor and singer has gained quite a bit of popularity in recent times for his performances in Netflix’s musical love film Purple Hearts (2022), romantic comedy Red, White, and Royal Blue (2023), and the MGM-produced s*x comedy Bottoms (2023).

Why The Idea of You got an R rating?

Several media portals stated The Idea of You got the R rating because it contains profanity, s*x, nudity, violence, and gore, and has sequences showing alcohol, drugs, and smoking as well.

Reports suggest that there are also several frightening and intense scenes in The Idea of You, all of which are responsible for the restricted certification. The movie is based on an award-winning book by the same name by Robinne Lee, published on June 13, 2017.

As per IMDb, the official synopsis reads:

“Solène Marchand (Anne Hathaway), a 40-year-old single mother, begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), the lead singer of the hottest boy band on the planet, August Moon.”

Given this gist, multiple speculations indicated that the plot is inspired by Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde’s love story.

That’s because Styles is a former singer of One Direction, a noted boy band, and is 10 years younger than Wilde, similar to the film’s plot. However, Harry and Olivia are not together now.

When asked about this, in 2017, Lee shared with blogger Deborah Kalb that she once read about a boy band’s lead singer and his inclination to date older women. While she didn’t identify the man here, rumors suggested it was Styles. In 2020, after the book was being considered for a film, the author however clarified to Vogue that The Idea of You wasn’t “supposed to be a book about Harry Styles.”

Casting, filming, and other details

According to Deadline, Anne Hathaway was signed in June 2021, when screenwriter Jennifer Westfelft adapted the novel for the film. With time, Michael Showalter was roped in as the director, and Nicholas Galitzine as the lead man.

By October, the film started rolling in Atlanta, Georgia, with photos featuring the two protagonists engaged in a steamy kiss in the rain in Savannah going viral eventually. They wrapped up in December.

Right now, The Idea of You is in the post-production stage and has no release date attached.