"Thea has an incredible gift for emotional storytelling and is the perfect filmmaker to bring Rebecca Yarros' sweeping, romantic, and heartbreaking story to the screen," Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president Erin Westerman told The Hollywood Reporter. Translation: This studio is betting big that audiences want sophisticated love stories with actual dramatic weight — not just steamy fantasy escapism.
Here's what nobody's saying out loud: Yarros' pre-Fourth Wing backlist is suddenly very valuable real estate. Publishers and studios spent years ignoring her earlier romance novels, but now that she's the author of a fantasy series that's sold millions of copies globally? Those same books are being dusted off and fast-tracked. The woman who wrote "The Things We Leave Unfinished" before anyone knew her name is now a brand.
Todd Lieberman's Hidden Pictures produced Lionsgate's 'The Housemaid,' which grossed nearly $400 million worldwide. Sharrock's feature debut, 'Me Before You,' starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin, took in over $200 million globally. Sharrock previously directed Daniel Radcliffe's Broadway debut in her acclaimed 2007 revival of 'Equus.'
Lionsgate is playing a calculated game here — pairing Yarros' proven storytelling with a director who knows exactly how to make audiences ugly cry into their popcorn. But the real question: will this adaptation get the same feverish fanbase treatment as Fourth Wing, or does it live in the shadow of her fantasy success?
Lionsgate has officially locked in its next big romance play, and they're not playing around with talent. The studio announced Tuesday that Thea Sharrock — the filmmaker responsible for the devastatingly popular weepie Me Before You — will direct their feature adaptation of Rebecca Yarros' novel The Things We Leave Unfinished. For those unfamiliar with the source material, the story centers on a woman who returns to her Rocky Mountain hometown after a public, catastrophic divorce in a major city.
She then finds herself forced into an unlikely partnership: working alongside an arrogant bestselling author to complete her late great-grandmother's unfinished WWII love story. Naturally, past secrets and undeniable attraction collide as these two damaged people get closer — both emotionally and otherwise. This isn't Sharrock's first rodeo with sweeping romantic drama.
Her 2016 feature debut Me Before You, starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin, cleaned up at the worldwide box office with over $200 million. The film became a cultural touchstone for anyone who's ever ugly-cried in a theater while questioning their life choices. Lionsgate clearly hopes she can recreate that specific magic with Yarros' material.
But here's where things get juicy: Rebecca Yarros wasn't always the literary powerhouse she's become today. Before Fourth Wing turned her into a household name and fantasy genre icon, she wrote several romance novels — including The Things We Leave Unfinished. Those earlier works are now being treated like buried treasure by studios desperate to capitalize on her massive popularity.
Yarros is exec producing this adaptation through her production company Full Measures Productions, so she's not just along for the ride — she's got creative skin in the game. The project will be produced by Todd Lieberman via his Hidden Pictures banner, the same team behind Lionsgate's nearly $400 million worldwide hit The Housemaid. Arash Amel handled the screenplay adaptation, bringing his experience with high-stakes drama from projects like A Private War and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
Lionsgate has been aggressively building its book adaptation slate, recently winning a seven-studio bidding war for The Correspondent by Virginia Evans — another thriller that Lieberman is producing. Sharrock herself began her career as a theatre director in England, where she earned critical acclaim including an Olivier Award for Best Revival for After the Dance. Her 2007 revival of Equus notably marked Daniel Radcliffe's Broadway debut — years before anyone knew he'd be swinging swords in a different kind of fantasy franchise.
Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president Erin Westerman called Sharrock "the perfect filmmaker to bring Rebecca Yarros' sweeping, romantic, and heartbreaking story to the screen." The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is also set for release later this year from the studio, proving Lionsgate isn't abandoning its franchise roots while simultaneously expanding into more intimate, character-driven romance territory. Whether The Things We Leave Unfinished becomes another box office juggernaut or simply a prestige play for awards season remains to be seen — but one thing's certain: Rebecca Yarros' transition from romance novelist to Hollywood's most wanted author continues at full speed.
