The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Sean Kaufman joins Oscar-winning director’s video game adaptation
Sean Kaufman has joined the early cast of an Oscar-winning director’s film adapting Gabrielle Zevin’s bestselling novel about game developers, according to industry reports.
If you spend any time around teen dramas or have logged the hours in binge-watching The Summer I Turned Pretty, you should know Sean Kaufman is not just another background face—he's quickly turning up everywhere. The latest: Kaufman’s just landed a rather massive part in a film that, frankly, sounds tailor-made for anyone who's gotten misty-eyed over video games and old friendships. It's the movie version of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, the bestselling novel that had book clubbers and TikTok readers foaming at the mouth back in 2022.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow has sold more than four million copies around the globe since launching in 2022.
Cast and Crew Line-Up
This adaptation looks rather stacked from the outset. Siân Heder, fresh off her Oscar win for 2021’s CODA, is both directing and writing the thing. Her script builds on a draft originally knocked together by the book’s author Gabrielle Zevin and screenwriter Mark Bomback. If you know Zevin, you know she’s not the sort to let her work out into the wild without some oversight—she’s also exec producing.
The early billing so far has Kaufman as Marx Watanabe, one of the story’s emotional pillars. Alongside him is Daisy Edgar-Jones (she’s playing Sadie Green), best known for Normal People and popping up in half the prestige dramas of the last five years. Rounding out the trio: Sky Yang as Sam Masur, Marx’s mate and Sadie’s creative partner.
- Director: Siân Heder (Oscar winner for CODA)
- Marx Watanabe: Sean Kaufman
- Sadie Green: Daisy Edgar-Jones
- Sam Masur: Sky Yang
- Producers: Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner
- Executive Producer: Gabrielle Zevin
The Story and Its Video Game Heart
Let’s clear up what you’re in for with this story, because it’s a big reason people have lost their minds over the book. The film follows Sadie, Sam, and Marx across several decades, charting their rise from childhood friends through university and into the pressure cooker of indie game development. They eventually launch a studio called Unfair Games. There's creativity and heartbreak on every page—and, presumably, every frame—set amid the backdrop of the fast-evolving video game scene through the 1990s and 2000s.
Kaufman’s not exactly been treading water himself—he’s coming off roles in For All Mankind and Stumble, and has a string of projects on the way. That includes Other Mommy, Alone at Dawn, and a rather mysterious new film from Daniels starring Matt Damon. Yes, those Daniels.
If you’re wondering whether the original novel's hype was justified: not only did it move millions of copies in forty countries, The New York Times and Los Angeles Times both called it one of the best books in decades, which isn’t something they just hand out for free.
The film’s locked in for a 12 November 2027 release, so expect plenty more casting headlines and probably a viral trailer or two before anyone’s actually allowed to buy popcorn for it.