Netflix is developing a feature adaptation of Lynn Painter’s “Better Than The Movies,” Deadline reports

Netflix is developing a feature-film adaptation of Lynn Painter’s best-selling romantic-comedy novel “Better Than the Movies,” according to Deadline, which published an ongoing roundup of the project’s status and development timeline. The report frames the adaptation as part of Netflix’s broader slate of book-based romantic comedies moving from page to screen.

Painter’s novel, released about five years before Deadline’s update, has followed a relatively fast path into studio development. Deadline says the project found a director and a home at Netflix, describing the sequence of early steps as unusually smooth and rapid for the genre’s typical development cycle.

The Deadline feature update presents the adaptation as an extension of Painter’s breakout appeal with readers, while also positioning the work within Netflix’s continuing focus on feature projects built from popular literature. Deadline’s item is organized as a running “everything we know” tracker, suggesting additional confirmations and production milestones may be added as casting, scripting, or scheduling details are finalized.

While Deadline’s summary does not provide further specifics in the material available for this desk, the update indicates the film is in the development phase rather than in release. That matters for audiences and industry stakeholders because development timing affects when rights, writing, and production planning move into later stages.

The novel’s multi-year journey to Netflix development also means the adaptation has had time to accumulate reader awareness and commercial proof before reaching stream-platform decision-makers. In entertainment-business terms, the model is often used to reduce uncertainty by pairing pre-sold audience interest with a well-known creative package.

If and when the project advances beyond development, the next publicly observable steps typically include formal announcements around the final script, additional producers, casting, and target production or release timing. Deadline’s tracker format indicates it will continue to reflect new details as they become official.

For Netflix, adapting a commercially successful romantic comedy can carry implications for how the streamer competes in a crowded book-to-screen market, particularly in a segment that relies on recognizable story ingredients and established audience expectations. For creators and rights holders, it can also determine how promptly a long-running development effort converts into contracted production obligations.