Netflix has found its Liz Buxbaum and Wes Bennett for Better Than the Movies, the upcoming film adaptation of Lynn Painter’s bestselling YA romance. Beatrice Kitsos will lead the cast opposite David Iacono following a widely discussed talent search and plenty of fan casting from readers.
Beatrice Kitsos, whose credits include Percy Jackson and the Olympians and It Lives Inside, will star as high school senior Liz Buxbaum. David Iacono, known for The Summer I Turned Pretty and Jurassic World Rebirth, takes on the role of her next-door neighbour, Wes Bennett, and we can absolutely see the vision.
The story follows rom-com-obsessed Liz as she teams up with her annoying but undeniably cute neighbour, Wes, to win over her longtime crush. Their plan involves all our fave romance tropes, including fake dating, enemies to lovers and the boy next door, while asking whether real love can ever live up to the movies.
Readers had already connected Iacono with Wes before Netflix announced the adaptation, sharing fan edits and casting suggestions across social media. Kitsos also publicly expressed her interest in playing Liz after fans began putting her forward for the role, posting on Instagram that she wanted the chance to audition.
Published by Simon & Schuster in 2021, Better Than the Movies became a BookTok favourite and reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list. The novel has remained on its monthly YA paperback chart for 44 consecutive months and spent 20 weeks on the weekly YA hardcover list.
Julia Hart will direct and co-write the adaptation with Jordan Horowitz and Heather Flanders. Horowitz will also produce through Original Headquarters alongside Shauna Phelan and Melanie Krauss, marking the company’s second Netflix project after Hart’s upcoming Don’t Say Good Luck.
For CultureCues, Beatrice Kitsos and David Iacono feel like exciting choices for Liz and Wes. Readers have spent years imagining who could bring these characters to the screen, and many are already delighted with the casting. The book’s love for classic rom-coms gives the adaptation plenty to play with, and as complete suckers for fake dating, enemies to lovers and the boy next door, we had such a fun time reading it. We can’t wait to see the story brought to life and find out whether the film really can be better than the movies.
Netflix has not yet announced a release date for Better Than the Movies.
Nikki Murray is a UK-based writer, screenwriter and founder & editor of CultureCues, covering film, television, music and pop culture. Her work focuses on storytelling and the moments shaping modern entertainment.