Some books become favorites. Others become the stories we return to when we need comfort, hope, and a reminder that happiness can find us again. K.L. Walther’s The Summer of Broken Rules is both for us, which makes its upcoming adaptation especially exciting.
Amazon MGM Studios is developing a film based on the novel, with Sophia Stallone’s newly launched Common Era Projects and Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions. Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin, whose credits include Disney’s 2020 adaptation of Mulan, are writing the screenplay.
And yes, we already have feelings about this one. It’s a touching story of grief, growth, and love.
The story follows Meredith Fox as she returns to Martha’s Vineyard 18 months after her sister’s death. Her family has gathered for her cousin’s wedding, but stepping back into their summer traditions means confronting everything that has changed.
As if that weren’t enough, her longtime boyfriend broke up with her just two weeks before the celebration. Returning to a place filled with memories while newly single? Meredith has a lot to navigate.
Fortunately, there’s a distraction: her family’s annual game of Assassin, unfolding throughout the wedding festivities. Unfortunately for her determination to protect her heart, a very cute groomsman becomes part of the equation.
An alliance, a little competition, and feelings she wasn’t planning on having? We’re seated.
But the romance is only part of why this book means so much to us. Meredith’s journey offers space for grief without making it the entirety of her story. For us, watching her reconnect with the world is a reminder that moving forward doesn’t have to mean leaving someone behind.
That’s what we want this adaptation to preserve: the complicated feelings beneath the summer setting, the family traditions, and the possibility of falling in love when you’re still learning how to feel like yourself again.
Give us the wedding chaos and the chemistry, absolutely. But keep the tenderness that makes this book a comfort read. That’s where our hearts are.
