Better Than The Movies: Netflix Casts Beatrice Kitsos and David Iacono as Liz and Wes in Lynn Painter’s Beloved Adaptation

Netflix has officially found its Liz and Wes — Beatrice Kitsos and David Iacono will lead the highly anticipated YA romantic comedy film adaptation of Lynn Painter’s #1 New York Times bestselling novel Better Than The Movies.

OTT Release Date: Not Yet Confirmed

Netflix has not yet announced a release date for the adaptation. The film was first announced in May 2026 with casting confirmed in late July 2026, meaning a 2027 Netflix premiere window remains the most plausible expectation, though nothing has been locked in officially.

The Casting: Netflix Finds Its Liz and Wes

Beatrice Kitsos (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) will lead Better Than The Movies as high school senior Liz, opposite David Iacono (Jurassic World Rebirth) as Wes Bennett.

The co-stars snagged the coveted movie roles following a buzzy talent search and passionate fan casting.

The BookTok community quickly honed in on Iacono for the role of Liz’s neighbor Wes Bennett, creating reels of the dream casting before the adaptation was announced. Meanwhile, Kitsos took to Instagram to offer herself up for an audition when fans submitted her for Liz.

Lynn Painter herself shared the news on Instagram, welcoming the two leads to the project with visible excitement.

The Story: A Love Letter to Romantic Comedies

Directed by Julia Hart, Better Than The Movies follows Liz, a high school senior and hopeless romantic, as she enlists the help of her next-door neighbor Wes to help catch the attention of her longtime crush Michael.

“Better Than the Movies pays homage to all the romance tropes — fake relationship, enemies to lovers, boy next door — but turns them on their heads in this new take on what happily ever after looks like,” an official description reads.

The story sees Liz, a rom-com cinephile, using Wes, her annoying but cute neighbor, to attract her crush. However, fate has other ideas in mind for Liz and Wes as they form a new relationship.

Based on the Bestselling BookTok Phenomenon

The novel remained on the newspaper’s YA paperback bestseller list for 44 consecutive months and spent 20 weeks on its weekly YA hardcover list.

Lynn Painter’s bestselling novel was reported by Deadline to be adapted for the screen in May 2026.

Better Than The Movies — a love letter to romantic comedies published by Simon & Schuster — follows Liz Buxbaum (Kitsos), whose obsession with rom-com movies proves very helpful when she schemes with her annoying but cute next-door neighbour (Iacono) to get the attention of her untouchable crush.

Beatrice Kitsos: A Fan-Favourite Gets Her Dream Role

The fervor for Better Than the Movies was so powerful that Kitsos herself posted on Instagram asking to audition for the adaptation.

Kitsos is best known for appearing in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, along with projects such as It Lives Inside, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and iZombie.

Playing Liz Buxbaum marks Kitsos’s first major leading role in a Netflix original film, and the casting was widely celebrated by fans of both the actress and the source novel.

David Iacono: The BookTok Community’s First Choice for Wes

For Iacono, it all begins with pretending to play a supporting role in someone else’s love story but ending up having real feelings, turning the film into a heartfelt enemies-to-lovers romance that celebrates many classic rom-com themes. The Summer I Turned Pretty, Jurassic World Rebirth, Fear Street: Prom Queen, and The Flight Attendant are his previous projects.

Lead Cast: At a Glance

The Creative Team

Julia Hart, who helmed the Sunny Sandler-led coming-of-age Netflix drama Don’t Say Good Luck, returns to the director’s chair here, working from a script by Heather Flanders and Hart & Jordan Horowitz.

The producers are Horowitz for Original Headquarters, as well as Shauna Phelan and Melanie Krauss.

Better Than The Movies is the second Original Headquarters project at Netflix.

Technical Crew

Part of Netflix’s Growing YA Romance Universe

Better Than The Movies joins the long list of popular book adaptations coming to the platform, with adaptations like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, an increase in Emily Henry movies, and more keeping it company.

This marks the second big bit of Lynn Painter-related news in just two days, as it was also reported that Sony has tapped The Fault in Our Stars’ Josh Boone to helm the feature adaptation of her novel Fake Skating.

The growing momentum around Lynn Painter’s work signals that the author is fast becoming one of Hollywood’s most sought-after YA romance voices, with multiple studios now racing to adapt her catalogue.

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