Netflix has launched development on a feature adaptation of Ali Hazelwood's bestselling novel Deep End, locking down the rights in a pre-empt — a deal struck before the book's publishers could shop it widely to rival bidders — according to Deadline.

The novel, published by Berkley (an imprint of Penguin Random House) in February 2025, became an instant #1 New York Times bestseller. It follows Scarlett Vandermeer, a competitive diver described as "swimming upstream," and her steamy college romance with an ace swimmer. Since publication, Deep End has been licensed in 21 territories and sold nearly 1.5 million copies worldwide. Author Ali Hazelwood's website notes the book explores themes of kink and explicit sexual content.

Laura Kosann has been tapped to write the screenplay. The producer roster pairs two banners: Shawn Levy and Dan Levine through their 21 Laps shingle (where Emily Morris and Emily Feher will oversee the project), and Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan through Unwell Productions. Cooper is best known as the host of the wildly popular podcast Call Her Daddy; Unwell, her production company, is best known for that show and is now pushing into scripted content. Deep End is among its first major moves in that space. Ali Hazelwood will executive produce alongside Matthew Janzen for Unwell.

Hazelwood's path to bestseller lists is unconventional. A former neuroscience PhD and professor, she left academia to write full-time in 2022 and has since sold more than 10 million copies of her work worldwide. Deep End is her second novel headed for the screen, following The Love Hypothesis — an Amazon MGM and MRC production slated to premiere on Prime Video on 23 September.

Netflix has signalled a clear interest in the New Adult romance category — broadly, stories featuring characters in their late teens and early twenties navigating love and independence. Before Deep End, the streamer announced Icebreaker, an adaptation of Hannah Grace's novel, also produced by Unwell.

For fans of Hazelwood's blend of science, sports, and swoon, the pipeline is filling. Two of her books are now on the road to screens, and Deep End's nearly 1.5 million readers already know the beats a Kosann script will need to land — the diving board, the pool deck, and everything that happens in the lanes between them.