Yahoo News The Idea of You: Is the boy band August Moon based on One Direction?
Calling all music and rom-com lovers! If you haven't dashed to your nearest cinema to catch the newest film on the market, The Idea of You, you're probably going to want to cancel all of your weekend plans. Like, now.
It stars Anne Hathaway as Solène, a 40-year-old single mum who falls for 24-year-old Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), the lead singer of the popular boyband, August Moon, after meeting at Coachella. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Robinne Lee.
Since the movie's release, plenty of fans have been making comparisons between August Moon and One Direction. Especially because the fictional band's lead single bares an eery similarity to one of 1D's biggest hits.
Meanwhile, speculation has also been rising that Galitzine's character is inspired by the global pop icon, Harry Styles. So, is this true? Let's unpack...
Is August Moon based on One Direction?
While you may be convinced that August Moon is the 2024 reincarnation of One Direction, apparently, the similarities were purely a coincidence.
The lead single was written by Savan Kotecha and Carl Falk, the duo who wrote and produced 1D's debut single, What Makes You Beautiful.
Kotecha - who has since produced music for films such as the Charlie's Angels reboot and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga - recently opened up to BBC about the songwriting process. Plus, how his experience working with boybands like One Direction and Westlife helped him to shape the music of August Moon.
"We spoke a little bit about the characters. They wanted to know a lot about what these characters would be going through," Kotecha explained, adding: "Even before One Direction, I've done this so much with Westlife and a bunch of other boy bands."
Despite giving his "two cents" on what he felt "was authentic and what wasn't authentic to the experience," it was only until August Moon's track came out that Kotecha heard the uncanny likeness.
"It sounds so dumb and naïve of me. But I didn't think about it," he recalled, adding that he originally thought the song gave off "1975-ish" vibes.
What has the author said about the comparisons?
Back in 2020, Robinne Lee was asked in a Vogue interview if she based the lead singer, Hayes Campbell on Harry Styles.
Rather than being directly based on the 30-year-old, the author explained that she combined several famous faces to come up with the character of Hayes. As well as the One Direction singer, this also included Prince Harry and Eddie Redmayne.
She also said: "This was never supposed to be a book about Harry Styles. It was supposed to be a story about a woman approaching 40 and reclaiming her sexuality and rediscovering herself, just at the point that society traditionally writes women off as desirable and viable and whole."
What has Nicholas Galitzine said about his character?
29-year-old Nicholas Galitzine has also weighed in on the Harry Styles saga. Back in March, he told Variety that "it's not a comparison [he's] ever made," but he's noticed that "people really like to make it."
He was also keen to separate his character from Harry, explaining that he has a "very different" personality, and he wants him to "exist in his own world."
The Idea of You is in cinemas now.
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