Leighton Meester, Jared Padalecki to star in Netflix holiday rom-com

Another BookTok favorite is coming to your TV screens.

Leighton Meester and Jared Padalecki are set to star in Netflix’s adaptation of The Bodyguard by Katherine Center.

According to Tudum, it’s a “comedy about a no-nonsense bodyguard who is assigned to protect a charming action star over the holidays.” While the story follows Center’s 2022 novel, the movie version will go by a different title — since that title is already taken by the 1992 Whitney Houston/Kevin Costner film. The production is enlisting fans to help choose the new title. 

The rom-com will also star Andie MacDowell and will be directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum.

“I began paying close attention to BookTok culture around the success of my last Netflix film, Purple Hearts,” Allen Rosenbaum tells Tudum. “The overwhelming enthusiasm on social media and with readers for Katherine Center’s novel was a major factor in my decision to come on board as director.”

She adds, “It’s been amazing to work closely with Katherine so far and to see her so excited about moving her witty story about a no-nonsense bodyguard [for] an A-list actor into the holiday season. It makes the most gorgeous backdrop for the sparks that fly between them to be even brighter.”

A release date for the film has not yet been announced.

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