Netflix has kicked off 2026 on good footing as People We Meet on Vacation, the adaptation of Emily Henry’s popular 2021 romance, has debuted to 17.2 million in just two days of release, making it Netflix’s number 1 film on its English-language Top 10 movie list for the week of January 5 to the 11th after the movie was released on Jan. 9, 2026. In addition, People We Meet on Vacation has returned to the Amazon bestsellers list. Similar to how It Ends with Us led to a slew of adaptations from author Colleen Hoover, it looks like the same will be true of People We Meet on Vacation author Emily Henry.
Born in 1991, Emily Henry’s first novel, The Love That Split the World, was published in 2016, when she was only 25. After writing young-adult fiction, she shifted into romance novels, starting with 2020’s Beach Read. She has become a sensation in the world of romance novels, merging classic rom-com film setups and archetypes with a millennial and Gen Z sensibility. She has been the winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards five years in a row, and now might be the source for a new boom in romance films as various studios are acquiring the rights to her work.
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‘Beach Read’ (2020)
Emily Henry’s first romance novel is also her most famous. Published on May 2, 2020, Beach Read served as the perfect nostalgic summer read during the COVID-19 pandemic when audiences were unable to actually go to the beach. The book follows January Andrews, a successful romance author who reconnects with Augustus Everett, a former college rival who is a well-renowned writer known for his dark themes. With the two reconnecting and suffering from writer’s block, they take up the challenge to spend the summer writing one another’s genres, which not only leads to them gaining a newfound appreciation for what the other writes, but also a deeper understanding of each other.
Beach Read became a New York Times Best Seller and made multiple lists as one of the best romance books of 2020. 20th Century Pictures acquired the film rights in April 2023. Yulin Kuang, who also wrote the screenplay for the adaptation of Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation, will both write and direct Beach Read. No release date has been set yet.
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‘Book Lovers’ (2022)
Released on May 3, 2022, Book Lovers was Henry’s third romance following Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation. The story revolves around literary agent Nora Stephens after her younger sister talks her into taking a month-long vacation in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. However, Nora discovers that Charlie Lastra, a book editor she is not friendly with, is also in town running the local bookstore his parents own. The two begin to collaborate and soon fall in love, but complications arise when Charlie wants to stay in Sunshine Falls due to his father’s health, while Nora questions if a long-distance relationship can truly work.
Book Lovers became a number one New York Times and USA Today bestseller. On March 28, 2023, Tango Entertainment acquired the film rights. Sarah Heyward, who has written episodes of Girls and Nobody Wants This, will pen the script. No release date has been set, and no casting has been done. Currently, no studio has acquired the distribution rights.
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‘Happy Place’ (2023)
Happy Place centers on Harriet Kilpatrick and Wyn Connor, a couple who, after eight years, have decided to separate but are keeping it a secret from their friends. The duo goes on a vacation with their friends in Maine every year, which they call “their happy place,” and while they try to maintain the illusion they are together, it becomes increasingly more difficult as tension bubbles to the surface, particularly as they are both coming to terms with how much they have changed as people since they first met in college. Now they must discover what truly makes them happy in life.
Happy Place was released on Apr. 25, 2023, just after both Beach Read and Book Lovers film rights were acquired. Happy Place was originally set up as a television series for Netflix through Jennifer Lopez’s production company, Nuyorican Productions, which acquired the rights in June 2024. Yet days before People We Meet on Vacation debuted on Netflix, the streamer decided to shift Happy Place from a television series to a feature film. Bridgerton producer Leila Cohanwas was initially signed on as the showrunner for the planned series, but following the shift to feature film, it is unclear if she is still involved.
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‘Funny Story’ (2024)
Funny Story was published on April 23, 2024, and follows children’s librarian Daphne Vincent, who has recently been dumped by her fiancé after he realized he had feelings for his old friend, Petra. Daphne moves in with Miles Nowak, the ex-boyfriend of the woman Daphne’s fiancé left her for. While Daphne and Miles originally pose as a couple to make their exes jealous, the two begin to develop feelings for one another.
A feature film adaptation of Funny Story was announced in July 2024, two months after the book’s release. Lyrical Media and Ryder Picture Company will produce, with Emily Henry set to pen the screenplay adaptation of her own book. On January 7, 2026, two days before People We Meet on Vacation debuted, Netflix confirmed it had acquired the distribution rights to Funny Story. That gives Netflix the film rights to three Emily Henry novels.
Which Emily Henry adaptation are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments.
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