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\n\tEXCLUSIVE: <\/strong>Ever since its 2021 release, readers of Lynn Painter<\/a>\u2018s #1 New York Times bestselling BookTok phenomenon Better Than the Movies<\/a> <\/em>have been fan-casting the movie version \u2014 and now, we can report that Beatrice Kitsos<\/a> (Percy Jackson and the Olympians<\/em>) and David Iacono<\/a> (Jurassic World Rebirth<\/em>) have landed the lead roles in the Netflix adaptation we announced<\/a> in May.<\/p>\n \n\tA love letter to romantic comedies published by Simon & Schuster,\u00a0Better Than the Movies<\/em>\u00a0centers on Liz Buxbaum (Kitsos), whose obsession with rom-com movies proves very helpful when she schemes with her annoying but cute next-door neighbor (Iacono) to get the attention of her untouchable crush. The book pays homage to all your classic romance tropes \u2014 fake relationship, enemies to lovers, boy next door \u2014 but spins them on their head in this new take on what happily ever after looks like.<\/p>\n \n\tAs a testament to its popularity,\u00a0Better Than the Movies<\/em>\u00a0has been appeared on the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0monthly YA paperback list for 44 consecutive months and its weekly YA hardcover list for 20 weeks. The BookTok community quickly honed in on Iacono for the role of Liz\u2019s neighbor Wes Bennett, creating reels of the dream casting before the adaptation was announced. Meanwhile, Kitsos took to Instagram<\/a> to offer herself up for an audition when fans submitted her for Liz.<\/p>\n \n\tThis marks the second big bit of Lynn Painter-related Deadline news in just two days, as we reported yesterday that Sony has tapped\u00a0The Fault in Our Stars\u2019<\/em>\u00a0Josh Boone<\/a> to helm the feature adaptation of her novel\u00a0Fake Skating<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tJulia Hart<\/a>, who helmed the Sunny Sandler-led coming-of-age Netflix<\/a> drama\u00a0Don\u2019t Say Good Luck<\/em>, out August 14, returns to the director\u2019s chair here, working from a script by Heather Flanders and Hart & Jordan Horowitz.<\/p>\n \n\tHorowitz is producing for his and Hart\u2019s Original Headquarters, alongside Shauna Phelan and Melanie Krauss. Previously, Hart and Horowitz co-wrote and teamed to produced\u00a0Don\u2019t Say Good Luck<\/em> \u2014 a film about a young woman who lands the lead in her high school show just as her mother\u2019s cancer returns \u2014\u00a0through their banner. <\/p>\n \n\tPreviously, Kitsos has been seen in the Neon horror film\u00a0It Lives Inside<\/em>, as well as such series as\u00a0Percy Jackson and the Olympians<\/em>,\u00a0Are You Afraid of the Dark?<\/em>, and\u00a0iZombie<\/em>. She is repped by The Characters Talent Agency, Neon Kite, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman.<\/p>\n \n\tKnown for his work in The Summer I Turned Pretty<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Jurassic World Rebirth<\/em>, Iacono has also been seen in\u00a0The Flight Attendant<\/em>,\u00a0Grand Army<\/em>,\u00a0City on a Hill<\/em>,\u00a0Fear Street: Prom Queen<\/em>, and more. Upcoming, he\u2019ll be seen in the rom-com\u00a0Goodbye Girl<\/em>\u00a0from Amazon MGM Studios and Gulfstream Pictures. He is repped by UTA, Rebel Creative Group, and Vainshtein Law, P.C.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n