'The Idea of You' ending: How does the movie change the book?

Warning: This post contains spoilers for “The Idea of You”

The ending of the new movie “The Idea of You” may seem like wish fulfillment to readers of the book it’s based on by author Robinne Lee.

The conclusion of the book — a love story between art gallery owner Soléne Marchand and a famous (and much younger) boy bander named Hayes Campbell — leaves its two leads in a much different spot than that of the movie.

“The Idea of You,” in its original form as a book, is not a conventional romance. Yes, Soléne and Hayes fall in love — but they don’t stay together.

Author Lee wanted it that way. Speaking to TODAY.com, Lee shared her philosophy of romance: namely, that the ending doesn’t determine its quality.

“I wanted to show that not every story ends happily. Two people can be incredibly in love and the stars just don’t align. There are just other factors working against them. That doesn’t mean that they might not end up together sometime down the line, but the way I wrote the book meant that it wasn’t going to happen then and there,” she says.

She adds that her book is a “romantic drama.” The movie adaptation, on the other hand, is a “romantic comedy.”

“I think it’s an American movie. I wrote a French book, with a French protagonist,” she says, laughing.

Below, she breaks down the differences.

How does ‘The Idea of You’ book end?

In Lee’s book, Soléne, 39, and Hayes, 20, have a continent-spanning secret romance, as she follows Hayes’ band, August Moon, while on tour.

Once their relationship is found out by the public, Soléne’s life changes. The gallery she co-owns with a friend is compromised. Her daughter, who’s age 12 in the book, resents her.

She decides to end the relationship — for good — in an emotional moment at a hotel in Japan.

The conclusion was known to wreck and crush readers hoping for a happy ending. As one Redditor asked, “Is there a support group for those that have read this book and survived?”

“I wanted to say something about the fact that women always put others’ happiness before their own. In the book, Soléne is putting her daughter’s happiness before her own. She’s (also) well aware that she’s slacking at her job at the gallery she owns with her partner, so she’s putting that relationship into jeopardy,” Lee says.

How does ‘The Idea of You’ movie change the ending?

There are more than a few changes between the book and movie, which was written by Jennifer Westfeldt.

Soléne’s daughter, Isabelle, is older in the movie by a few years and has outgrown her August Moon obsession, for example. Hayes is older by four years, too.

A few more? Soléne is French-American, not French. She drives a Subaru and is still crushed over the betrayal of her ex-husband, Daniel. In the book, she’s extremely sleek, owns a much larger gallery and is long over Daniel.

But the biggest change of them all is the ending.

Soléne does indeed break up with Hayes one final time, citing the uproar in her personal life. During their last meeting, Hayes asks Soléne to wait five years. He believes that, by then, Isabelle will be old enough, and Soléne will be free enough, for them to be together. Soléne is less convinced and wants him to be open to life.

The movie catches up with the characters five years later, though. Soléne’s daughter is in Chicago; Hayes has gone solo.

Soléne happens to catch Hayes on “The Graham Norton Show,” which makes her weepy (a lot does in the movie). He says that, after his tour, he’s going to Los Angeles to see someone.

As he does in the beginning of the movie, Hayes walks into the gallery to greet Soléne, whose watery-eyed this time. It’s implied they get together.

Will ‘The Idea of You’ get a book sequel?

Lee has long been confronted by fans craving to know what happens with Hayes and Soléne in the future, like the movie does.

Will an “Idea of You” book sequel ever come? For now, Lee says she’s focusing on her second book, which is in revisions.

“I have some documents that are 100-something pages of the next (‘Idea of You’) book — if it’s going to be a book — but I really need to finish this one first,” she says.

What happens to August Moon?

In both the book and the film, Hayes leaves his band. But what happens to his old friends and the rest of August Moon?

Their fates are left unclear in Lee’s story, but TODAY.com asked the actors who brought the characters to life what they think of the five-year time jump seen in the film.

Dakota Adan, who plays Rory, says his character likely landed a book deal for a tell-all memoir. Adrian, played by Jaiden Anthony, is “off living his best life with his man,” potentially August Moon’s stylist.

Before the time jump, Hayes has to briefly leave Soléne to care for Oliver, played by Raymond Cham Jr. Cham says his character was probably newly broken up with, “tearing up hotel rooms” and “weeping.” So hopefully in the next five years, he “gets on the narrow path,” Cham says.

The “bad boy” Simon probably returned to Australia and started a social media career, says Vik White, a dancer known for his more than 8 million followers on TikTok.

“So, just you — in Australia,” Cham jokes.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com