From the page to the screen! Netflix is bringing author Sarah Dessen‘s Along for the Ride to life with a movie that looks like everything we never knew we needed.
“You guys: the trailer is HERE,” the writer shared via Instagram in March 2022. “I am so proud and excited I honesty have to keep going outside to breathe. Can’t wait for you all to fall in love with Emma and Bel like I did.”
Of course, the That Summer writer is referring to actors Emma Pasarow and Belmont Cameli, who play Auden and Eli, respectively in the film. Emma, for her part, also shared her excitement for the movie in a separate Instagram post, writing, “Literally can’t stop smile crying.”
Belmont, who fans may recognize as Jamie Eleanor Spano in Saved By the Bell, posted the trailer to his own social media accounts, adding, “It’s almost movie time.”
It was announced in April 2021 that the duo would star in the book’s film adaptation with Sarah sharing the news via Instagram, telling readers that she was, “Freaking out. In the best way.” In a blog post on her official website, the author gave fans an inside look at what it was like writing Along for the Ride.
“Some books are incredibly hard to write. Most are, actually. But this one, for me, was a little escape once in a while, and I was more grateful for it than I expected,” Sarah shared. “I wrote Along for the Ride in my daughter’s room, while she slept downstairs, and in the guest room, while she babbled to the babysitter. I stole half hours here, afternoons there, taking what I could get and using it to get more, and then more, on the page. And when I got stuck, I’d often look out the window and see one of my husband’s friends go zooming by on a bike, taking flight on one of the dirt jumps in my backyard. It was a crazy and chaotic way to write a book, and not at all the kind of structured, methodical approach I’d always used before. And you know what? Somehow, it just worked.”
The movie is directed by Sofia Alvarez, who adapted To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before for the streaming service.
Scroll through our gallery for everything we know about Along for the Ride so far.
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