Movies - Regretting You: Marine Delivers the Original Song for the French Release of the Highly Anticipated Adaptation

By Mulder, 23 september 2025

Sometimes artistic collaborations seem destined to happen, and Regretting You is one of them. Josh Boone's film, due for release on October 29 in France and October 24 in the United States, is already being hailed as one of the most notable literary adaptations of the fall. Inspired by Colleen Hoover's best-selling novel, which has sold over 30 million copies and been propelled by the viral #BookTok wave, this intergenerational drama explores the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, the pain of secrets, and the fragility of forgiveness. But one of the big surprises of this project comes from the music: singer Marine, winner of the latest season of Star Academy and a French pop phenomenon, wrote the film's original song, Restes d'averses, co-written with Eddy de Pretto.
It's an unexpected collaboration that underscores the intimate and universal nature of this story.

The choice of Marine is no coincidence. After winning over audiences with her hits Ma Faute and Cœur Maladroit—which became veritable anthems of the summer of 2025—the young artist is now making her mark internationally thanks to her sincere writing and melodies that touch on raw emotion. The selection of her song as the original soundtrack for Regretting You was announced with great fanfare in a video shared on social media by the film's stars: Allison Williams, heroine of Girls and revealed in Get Out and then M3GAN, alongside young revelations Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Afterlife, The Handmaid's Tale) and Mason Thames, already noticed in The Black Phone. All praised the French singer's talent, seeing in her a voice capable of conveying the inner workings of the story. This international response illustrates how the boundary between music and cinema can blur when the themes addressed speak to everyone: family, grief, reconciliation.

The film, adapted by Susan McMartin, follows the journey of Morgan Grant (Allison Williams), a woman who has put her dreams on hold to raise her daughter Clara (Mckenna Grace). The love between them is undeniable, but everything else divides them: their values, their life choices, their way of loving. Morgan's overprotectiveness suffocates Clara, while the teenager seeks to emancipate herself and find her own voice. When an unexpected tragedy brings buried betrayal to the surface, their already fragile balance is shattered, and each must confront her wounds in her own way. Morgan finds support from someone she had carefully kept at a distance, while Clara grows dangerously close to a boy her mother had forbidden her to love. This dramatic canvas, woven with generational tensions and thwarted love, is reminiscent at times of sentimental epics such as 500 Days of Summer and Downton Abbey, while bearing the intimate mark of Colleen Hoover.

Josh Boone's direction is eagerly awaited. The filmmaker has already made a name for himself with The Fault in Our Stars, a film that became a global phenomenon thanks to its subtle balance of lyricism and sincerity. Here, he had to juggle two voices, two worldviews—that of the mother and that of the daughter—without ever sacrificing the emotional authenticity that has touched millions of readers. The shoot, which took place in Atlanta in the spring of 2025, has been described as an “intensely collaborative” and “emotional” experience by several members of the crew, confirming the collective investment in this project. The presence of producers such as Robert Kulzer, Brunson Green, Anna Todd, and Flavia Viotti adds a unique note: Anna Todd, author of the best-selling After series, knows better than anyone the delicacy of bringing a literary phenomenon to the screen. Her participation acts as an unofficial blessing, reinforcing the legitimacy of the adaptation.

What also sets Regretting You apart from the many adaptations of fall 2025 is its emotional rather than spectacular ambition. While the box office is saturated with franchises, blockbusters, and classic adaptations, this film plays a different card: that of intimate recognition. Colleen Hoover's audience, who discovered the novel in the solitude of their bedrooms or through a TikTok video, will now share this experience in dark theaters, transforming a personal reading into a collective experience. This shift from the intimate to the collective could well be the film's true strength, a way of saying that the wounds and reconciliations that mark a family know no boundaries or generations.

The song Restes d'averses crystallizes this ambition. Written with the collaboration of Eddy de Pretto, it promises to accompany viewers far beyond the theater. The first excerpts, already available on YouTube, offer a glimpse of a bittersweet ballad, faithful to Marine's universe, but tinged with a new gravity that fits perfectly with the film's themes. It's easy to imagine this song resonating during key scenes in the plot, giving Morgan and Clara's pain and hopes a universal resonance. A few weeks before the release, a music video is set to be unveiled, a prelude to the singer's major national tour, which will begin in late November, confirming that Marine will be omnipresent this fall, both on stage and on screen.

Regretting You appears to be a project at a crossroads: a literary adaptation carried by a solid cast—featuring Allison Williams, Mckenna Grace, Mason Thames, Dave Franco, Willa Fitzgerald, Scott Eastwood, and the indispensable Clancy Brown—and an original soundtrack by a rising star of French music. This meeting of Colleen Hoover's writing, Josh Boone's cinematic vision, and Marine's voice symbolizes the richness of a film that doesn't just tell a story, but seeks to embody it in all its aspects, both visual and auditory. In a cultural landscape where sincerity is sometimes rare, Regretting You has everything it takes to become a must-see this fall.

Synopsis:
Morgan Grant has put her dreams on hold to raise her daughter Clara. While they share an unwavering love for each other, everything else separates them: their values, their choices, their way of loving and living. Morgan wants to protect Clara at all costs, even if it means suffocating her. Clara, for her part, refuses to follow the path laid out for her by her mother and seeks to break free. But when a brutal tragedy reveals an unimaginable betrayal, the fragile balance they had built is shattered. In the chaos, Morgan finds unexpected support... from the one person she had kept at a distance for years. Meanwhile, Clara grows dangerously close to the boy she is not allowed to love. Two parallel paths, two hearts on the road to healing, one truth to face.

Regretting You
Directed by Josh Boone
Written by Susan McMartin
Based on Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
Produced by Robert Kulzer, Brunson Green, Anna Todd, Flavia Viotti
Starring Allison Williams, Mckenna Grace, Dave Franco, Mason Thames, Willa Fitzgerald, Scott Eastwood, Clancy Brown
Production companies: Constantin Film, Harbinger Pictures, Frayed Pages Entertainment, Heartbones Entertainment
Distributed by Constantin Film (Germany), Paramount Pictures (worldwide)
Release dates: October 24, 2025 (United States), October 29, 2025 (France)
Running time: TBD