THE film adaptation of an Islander’s bestselling book is due to be released next month.
This Time Next Year, starring Sophie Cookson (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Lucien Laviscount (Emily in Paris), and Golda Rosheuvel (Bridgerton), is due to be released on digital platforms, including Sky and Amazon, on 3 June.
Author Sophie Cousens said it was her first experience of adapting one of her novels for the screen.
And she is currently working on adapting another of her novels, Just Haven’t Met You Yet, which is set in Jersey and she is “hopeful” can be filmed in the Island.
Ms Cousens has lived in Jersey for nearly ten years after moving to the Island with her husband in 2015 and working for ArtHouse Jersey.
After winning the 2015 Corvus competition for her first novel, How to Get Ahead in Television, based on her years working in television production, she then embarked on a career in writing.
This Time Next Year, which featured in the New York Times bestseller list in 2020 and sold internationally, revolves around Minnie and Quinn, who while together at a New Year’s Eve party quickly realise they share a connection – they were born on New Year’s Day of the same year, in the same London hospital, one minute apart.
Minnie grew up convinced that the mysterious Quinn – born first – stole the name her mother planned for her, and with it all her luck, setting her on a path of misfortune. Horrified at the misunderstanding, Quinn is set on making amends. The film also stars John Hannah (Four Weddings and a Funeral), Monica Dolan (Cyrano), Mandip Gill (Doctor Who) and Anita Dobson (Eastenders).
Speaking about the film’s release, Ms Cousens said: “When I first started writing This Time Next Year in the evenings after work, I couldn’t have imagined the journey this book was going to take me on. To see it become a New York Times bestseller, get translated into 16 languages and then turned into a film, has been incredible.
“Screenwriting is something I’ve always aspired to do, so I’m hopeful this is just the beginning of my screenwriting career.”
She travelled to Italy and London last summer to watch the filming, and, Ms Cousens said, snuck into the back of one of the scenes as an extra.
She added: “Just Haven’t Met You Yet is all set in Jersey, and the film adaptation is currently in development, and I’m writing it now. I’m hopeful that it will happen and that it will be filmed in Jersey.”
Her fourth novel, The Good Part, is out now.
