It might be summertime, but one winter sport is having its major moment in the spotlight right now. Following the mammoth success of Heated Rivalry and Off Campus, Netflix has jumped on the ice hockey bandwagon and announced an upcoming adaptation of another bestselling sports romance book that has taken 'BookTok' by storm.
Hannah Grace’s ice hockey novel Icebreaker is getting the small screen treatment as revealed by Variety – and a big name is already attached to produce. The 2022 book follows competitive figure skater Anastasia Allen and hockey player Nate Hawkins, who are forced to skate on the same ice after the hockey team's rink is destroyed.
The series looks to be in good hands with Amanda Lasher (Gossip Girl) signed on as showrunner and Jade Bartlett (Road House, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) joining as a co-writer.
© Getty ImagesIt's being executive produced by Unwell Productions, which is the media and entertainment company founded by Call Her Daddy podcaster Alex Cooper and her film producer husband Matt Kaplan.
"Booktok girlies, I have some exciting news for you..." Alex teased the announcement on Monday with a photo of the Icebreaker book posted to her Instagram Stories. Alex is best known for her popular podcast where she has interviewed A-list names like Miley Cyrus, Michelle Obama and Jane Fonda.
What is Icebreaker about?
Icebreaker is the first of three books in Hannah Grace's Maple Hills trilogy. It follows the enemies-to-lovers romance between figure skater Anastasia, who has her sights set on making the USA Winter Olympics team, and college hockey captain Nate, who steps in to be the skater's practice partner.
The New York Times bestseller went viral on TikTok's reader community, known as 'BookTok', and has sold nearly five million copies worldwide.
"I’m so unbelievably happy to finally be allowed to tell you that ICEBREAKER is being adapted into a tv show by @netflix & @unwell," author Hannah wrote on Instagram following the announcement. "I have been keeping this secret for THE LONGEST TIME!! It’s such a privilege to have the opportunity to work with such incredible teams and I’m truly the luckiest girl in the world," she added.
All we know about the Netflix series
The series is in the early stages, with no further details of how many episodes the season will include or when it will come out. Author Hannah confirmed there was "zero casting news right now, but I’ll keep you posted along with other announcements when I’m allowed to."
Showrunner Amanda Lasher teased that work on the series had begun. "I have been a fan of steamy YA since the seventh grade, reading Judy Blume stealthily hidden behind a textbook," she said, as per Variety.
"I love this genre, and it’s been a joy working with Jade, the team at Unwell, and Netflix to bring Hannah Grace’s beloved Icebreaker novel to the screen."
Co-writer Jade added: "Hannah has created the kind of world you want to live in, and Amanda and I are having an absolute romp with our incredible teams at Unwell and Netflix, bringing this cherished story to the screen."
