Lily Collins has been quietly working toward this moment for nearly a decade, and on Monday she finally let the world in on the secret. Collins made the announcement on February 23, sharing the news alongside a photo of Hepburn as Holly Golightly on Instagram. Her message to fans was heartfelt and long-awaited: “It’s with almost 10 years of development and a lifetime of admiration and adoration for Audrey that I’m finally able to share this. Honored and ecstatic don’t begin to express how I feel.”
The film is being developed by Collins’ own production company, Case Study Films, alongside Imagine Entertainment and producer Scott LaStaiti. That detail, that Collins is both star and producer, has not gone unnoticed. Some commenters have noted how her role as producer on the film could have affected her casting in the project. Still, for many film fans, the casting feels like a natural fit given Collins’ striking resemblance to the late style icon.
The script will be adapted by Alena Smith, the Peabody Award-winning creator of Apple TV+’s Dickinson, and is based on Sam Wasson’s bestselling book Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the Dawn of the Modern Woman, described as the first complete account of the making of the film. A director has not yet been announced.
The source material promises a rich and dramatic behind-the-scenes story. The film will chronicle the chaotic pre-production period, including the fact that Truman Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly Golightly and felt Paramount “double crossed” him by casting Hepburn, as well as on-set drama that included a crew member who was reportedly nearly electrocuted during the filming of the iconic opening sequence outside the Tiffany & Co. flagship store on Fifth Avenue. Characters will include Capote, legendary costume designer Edith Head, and director Blake Edwards, though none of those roles have been cast yet.
The announcement comes at a high-profile moment for Collins professionally. She currently stars in Netflix’s hit romantic dramedy Emily in Paris, which returned for its fifth season in December and has already been renewed for a sixth. Adding the role of Audrey Hepburn to her résumé represents a significant career leap, going from playing a lovably chaotic American expat in Paris to embodying one of the most iconic women in Hollywood history.
The casting has been met with widespread enthusiasm online, with fans and film enthusiasts rallying behind Collins as a natural fit for the role. Whatever excitement surrounds this project now, one thing is clear: this film has already generated the kind of cultural anticipation that Breakfast at Tiffany’s itself once inspired, and production hasn’t even begun.
No release date or director has been announced for the project as of publication.