‘The Love Hypothesis’ Started as ‘Star Wars’ Fan Fiction with a ReyLo Connection

Before ‘The Love Hypothesis‘ became a bestselling romance novel and an Amazon Prime Video film, it originated as something that fans of a certain galaxy far, far away might instantly recognize.

The tale that eventually blossomed into Olive Smith and Adam Carlsen’s slow-burn romance began as a piece of ‘Star Wars’ fan fiction, and the backstory is almost stranger than the narrative itself.

Originally published online in 2018 under the title Head Over Feet, ‘The Love Hypothesis’ was a ‘Star Wars’ fan fiction centered on the Reylo ship between Rey and Kylo Ren. Written under the pen name Ever_So_Reylo, this Reylo College AU quickly gained popularity on Archive of Our Own, amassing thousands of comments, kudos, and bookmarks before Ali Hazelwood ultimately took it down.

Hazelwood began crafting the story in 2018, reimagining Rey and Kylo Ren in a college setting. The premise closely mirrored what fans now recognize from the published novel, featuring a fake relationship that evolves into genuine feelings between two individuals who were never meant to fall for each other.

When Hazelwood transitioned the fanfic into a traditionally published novel, the main characters were renamed Olive and Adam, with Adam being a nod to Adam Driver. All explicit ‘Star Wars’ references were removed to avoid copyright issues, effectively severing the ‘Star Wars’ ties while transforming the fic into her debut novel.

The novel follows graduate student Olive at Stanford University as she pretends to date biology professor Adam Carlsen to convince her friend that her love life is thriving, only for the fake relationship to become far more complicated than either anticipated. Released by Berkley Books on September 14, 2021, the book has sold over 750,000 copies worldwide since its debut.

Even the cover art reflects its fan fiction origins. The characters on the novel’s cover illustration were designed after Driver and Daisy Ridley, the very actors whose onscreen chemistry inspired the original fic. This detail has delighted longtime Reylo shippers since the book’s success.

Hazelwood’s own background as a PhD student in cognitive neuroscience influenced the novel, and according to Vulture, her literary agent reached out after she expressed interest in reworking her fan fiction for traditional publishing. Since then, Hazelwood has shifted to writing full-time, publishing nine books and four novellas over the past four years.

The adaptation news added an even more surreal layer to the fan fiction origins. Amazon MGM Studios cast Tom Bateman as Dr. Adam Carlsen, who happens to be married to Daisy Ridley, the actress who portrayed Rey in the sequel trilogy that originally inspired the story. Lili Reinhart of ‘Riverdale’ fame was set to star as Olive alongside him.

Hazelwood has acknowledged the surreal coincidence of her husband starring in a project rooted in Reylo fanfic, admitting she was aware of the fic’s connection to him but had forgotten the specifics by the time he booked the role. Fans online had a field day connecting the dots once the casting news broke.

The supporting cast reportedly includes Rachel Marsh as Olive’s best friend Anh, Nicholas Duvernay as Olive’s ex Jeremy, Jaboukie Young-White as Olive’s friend Malcolm, and Arty Froushan as Adam’s colleague Tom. The film will stream globally on Prime Video starting September 23.

Hazelwood expressed genuine disbelief over seeing her story come to life on screen, stating she still finds it hard to believe it’s happening, and praised the film’s producers and stars for their talent. For a narrative that began as a piece of fan fiction about a doomed ‘Star Wars’ romance, witnessing it evolve into a full theatrical rollout with the real-life husband of Rey’s actress in the lead role is a remarkable full-circle moment few writers ever experience.

The success of ‘The Love Hypothesis’ has also been credited with fostering a broader Reylo-influenced trend across the romance publishing industry. Readers who approached the book without knowledge of its origins often trace the parallels once they discover the truth, from the academic setting to the emotionally guarded male lead.

For fans of the original ‘Head Over Feet’ fic, the film adaptation carries an additional layer of significance that casual readers might overlook. It’s not merely a romance novel receiving the streaming treatment; it’s a piece of fandom history coming full circle in a way that few could have predicted back in 2018.

Do you think knowing the Reylo origins of ‘The Love Hypothesis’ will change how you watch the movie when it premieres on Prime Video, or does the fan fiction backstory make Tom Bateman and Daisy Ridley’s real-life connection even harder to overlook?