In 2022, Netflix announced a film adaptation of the popular novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but it is now 2025 and there has been no cast announcement.
Leslye Headland (director of The Acolyte) was initially set to direct the film, but she later dropped out of the project.
Maggie Betts is now attached as the director, and she recently followed Ana de Armas on Instagram. Is this just random, or is there some real casting buzz behind the scenes? We don’t know yet. However, I would not be happy if Ana were cast as Evelyn Hugo, as she has done nudity before, and the story itself is very sexual. I personally would prefer someone who hasn’t done nudity.
The book is quite erotic. It follows Evelyn Hugo, a fictional Hollywood icon, who tells her life story to a reporter. Evelyn was married to several men and also had sexual relationships with women; she is bisexual. The book includes some explicit scenes, but the descriptions of sexual acts are not graphic.
Evelyn Hugo knows how to get what she wants, and she often uses her beauty to seduce men and sleep with them. The novel also includes some questionable relationships, which makes the material very sensitive, although I’m fairly certain Netflix will avoid adapting those elements.
In the book, Evelyn also has a serious lesbian relationship with fellow actress Celia, who becomes jealous of Evelyn because she films explicit scenes in movies without her knowledge.
Scenes like these are referenced throughout the novel.
For now, we’ll have to wait and see if any actress officially joins the project.
