Sony Readies Hockey Romance Adaptation ‘Fake Skating’ With Director Josh Boone

Sony and Columbia Pictures are set to adapt Lynn Painter’s hockey romance novel “Fake Skating” directed by Josh Boone and set for release on July 16, 2027. Adapted by Morgan Lehmann and Victoria Bata with Boone and his writing partner Knate Lee handling revisions, “Fake Skating” tells the story of former childhood sweethearts who have an icy reunion in their hockey-loving hometown, only for the ice to thaw when they fake a romantic relationship. Will Gluck and Jacqueline Monetta are producing and Madison Jones is executive producing on behalf of Olive Bridge Entertainment. Painter will also serve as an executive producer. “Fake Skating” inserts into a mid-July opening slat that is in between the release of two Warner Bros. sequels: the “Superman” DC sequel “Man of Tomorrow” and Legendary’s sequel to “A Minecraft Movie.” While Sony may not have as deep of a pool of theatrical IP as other studios, it has found success in lower-budget literary adaptations like Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends With Us,” which grossed $350 million at the global box office, and “Where the Crawdads Sing,” which grossed $144 million. This will be the first film adaptation for Painter, whose best-selling novels include “Better Than the Movies,” “The Do-Over” and “The Love Wager.” “Fake Skating,” which was published last September, has remained on the New York Times YA Hardcover Bestseller list every week since its release. She is repped by UTA and BookEnds Literary Agency. Boone is a veteran of romance films, having recently directed Paramount’s adaptation of Hoover’s “Regretting You” and adapting John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” into a 20th Century Fox feature film back in 2014. He is repped by WME and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Lehmann is repped by CAA and Untitled Entertainment. Bata is repped by UTA, Kaplan Perrone, and HJTH. Olive Bridge Entertainment is repped by UTA and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.