Anne Hathaway is adding another buzzy project to a jam-packed year. The Oscar winner is set to produce and star in the big-screen adaptation of Caro Claire Burke’s smash novel “Yesteryear,” one of the biggest books of 2026.
Hathaway revealed the project while walking the carpet at the world premiere of her latest film, “The End of Oak Street,” at Warner Bros. Studios on Sunday. “That’s been a really fun discovery because I read a draft two years ago and I knew the intense feeling that I had for it,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s been really fun watching people discover it. I have friends writing me, they’re like ‘What, how?‘”
“One of my friends wrote me and said ‘I can’t remember the last time that I immediately re-read a book.’ People are just loving it and I couldn’t be happier for Caro, what a triumph for her.” — Anne Hathaway on “Yesteryear”
The Book Behind the Buzz
“Yesteryear” has spent 17 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list and follows a tradwife influencer who suddenly finds herself transported back to the 19th century. Its blend of social commentary and escapist premise has made it a word-of-mouth phenomenon — and a natural fit for the kind of book-to-screen hit studios are chasing.
A Four-Movie Year
The news caps an unusually prolific run for Hathaway, who is releasing her fourth film of 2026 with “The End of Oak Street,” joining “The Odyssey,” “Devil Wears Prada 2” and “Mother Mary.” The new film, written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, follows a family trying to survive when their neighborhood mysteriously uproots and they find themselves surrounded by dinosaurs. Hathaway stars alongside Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella and Christian Convery.
Even she seems amused by the schedule. “When I got my schedule for this year from all the wonderful film studios that I’ve worked with, I saw it and I kind of thought I was being punked,” she said. “But then they showed me that no, no, no, all these release dates were going to hold.” A Colleen Hoover “Verity” adaptation is also due in October.
Why It Matters
Anne Hathaway is having the kind of year most A-listers can only dream of — four releases, a best-selling book adaptation and a hot “Verity” movie on the way, all while starring in original, ambitious projects like “The End of Oak Street.” For audiences, it’s a rare run of quantity and quality from a bankable star. And if the “Yesteryear” adaptation captures even a fraction of the book’s cultural moment, it could be her biggest hit of the bunch.
