Leatherwood will play Fox Thornton in 'It Happened One Summer' AFP via Getty Images Gavin Leatherwood (Sex Lives of College Girls, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) has joined the cast of romantic comedy — and BookTok sensation — It Happened One Summer.
Directed by The Hating Game‘s Peter Hutchings, Leatherwood joins the previously announced Nina Dobrev, Tyler Hoechlin and Virginia Gardner in the movie, now filming in New York.
It Happened One Summer is based on Tessa Bailey’s New York Times bestseller, which has sold two million copies in the U.S. alone. It is the first installment in the Bellinger Sisters series, one of the best-selling contemporary romance series of the past decade, and had readers in a frenzy over on TikTok.
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Piper Bellinger is a glamorous L.A. It Girl whose glittering world comes crashing down after a viral mishap gets her canceled overnight. Cut off from her wealthy family’s safety net, she is exiled to a rugged fishing town with one ultimatum: fix up her late father’s dive bar — or lose everything. There, she butts heads with Brendan, a gruff sea captain who has zero patience for influencers. He’s the last person she expected, and exactly what she needs.
Leatherwood is set to play Fox Thornton, Brendan’s best friend and fellow fisherman, a charismatic ladies’ man whose easy charm masks a deeper loyalty and vulnerability.
Bailey said: “It wasn’t easy to find someone with the charm and swagger of Fox Thornton, but we did it! So thrilled to have Gavin on board.”
Hutchings described him as “the missing piece. He walked in and the whole cast lifted. Nina and Virginia are brilliant together as the Bellinger sisters, and with Tyler and Gavin alongside them, we’ve got something really special.”
Written by The Hating Game‘s Christina Mengert and Joseph Muszynski, BCDF Pictures is producing, with Frolic Media executive producing alongside Dobrev, Hoechlin, Gardner and Bailey. Embankment handles worldwide sales and has extensively pre-sold the title.
The Vampire Diaries star Dobrev was last in the rom-com genre with Netflix’s Love Hard, which reached #1 in the U.S. and worldwide and remained in the U.S. Top 10 for four weeks, generating 190 million hours watched.
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