Reminders Of Him Proves Colleen Hoover Is A Proper Box Office Juggernaut
Colleen Hoover is rapidly becoming a hugely important name in Hollywood. She's been a best-selling author for some time, but it's only been a few years since movie adaptations of her books started to hit the market. And if "Reminders of Him" is any indicator, studios are only going to continue snatching up the film rights to her work for the foreseeable future. Yes, Hoover is now formally a straight-up box office juggernaut.
Though most of Hollywood was focused on the assorted winners at the 2026 Oscars (led by "One Battle After Another" and "Sinners"), Universal took the opportunity to release "Reminders of Him" on what is typically a slow weekend at the box office. The bet paid off. Based on Hoover's novel of the same name, it pulled in an estimated $18.2 million, which was good enough for second place on the domestic charts. Pixar's "Hoppers" ($28.5 million) took the crown for the second weekend in a row, though Universal's latest Hoover adaptation was the number one movie overall on Friday, March 13.
Director Vanessa Caswill's dramatic romance flick also pulled in $9.9 million overseas for a $28.2 million global start against a $25 million budget. That's a huge win against what were very modest expectations. It's similar to how "Regretting You," another Hoover joint, capitalized on a scary bad Halloween at the box office in 2025.
"Reminders of Him" centers on Kenna (Maika Monroe), who makes a grave mistake after an outing with her boyfriend that lands her in prison. Seven years later, Kenna returns to her hometown seeking to rebuild her life and earn the chance to reunite with her young daughter, whom she's never known. Kenna then develops a secret romance with a former NFL player turned local bar owner named Ledger (Tyriq Withers).
Colleen Hoover is poised to be Hollywood's next big thing
Universal Pictures now has a movie that is poised to fill a void as we head into April, with few romantic films to choose from aimed at female audiences. Warner Bros.' "Wuthering Heights" ruled the box office in February, but its run is winding down. "Reminders of Him" now figures to leg out as the de facto choice for viewers not interested in horror, sci-fi, or family-friendly fare for at least a few weeks.
Beyond that, Colleen Hoover's name undeniably means something now. You can trace that back to 2024 when "It Ends With Us" helped save the box office, pulling in an astonishing $351 million worldwide. It was nothing shy of shocking at the time, but Sony was serving an underserved audience. It also didn't hurt that the movie had the kind of buzz that simply can't be bought.
Last year, "Regretting You" was met with lousy reviews, yet it nevertheless legged out to $90 million worldwide on a $30 million budget after a so-so $13.6 million opening. It had legs because its intended audience ate it up, and there just aren't that many choices out there in the romantic-movies-made-for-theaters department. It's either Hallmark or Netflix at home, for the most part, outside of rare movies like these Colleen Hoover adaptations.
Hoover has a treasure trove just waiting to be tapped, too. The "It Ends WIth Us" Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively drama may hold up that film's sequel, but Hoover also has the "Slammed" series, the "Hopeless" series, and the "Maybe Someday" series, in addition to other standalone novels. There are literal franchises waiting to be scooped up. Dollars to donuts, those rights will go sooner rather than later.
"Reminders of Him" is in theaters now.