It's a match! Lily James is set to star as Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd in an upcoming film about the American entrepreneur's life.
The yet-untitled movie is reportedly in pre-production, with James on board to produce alongside 20th Century Studios and another company, Ethea Entertainment. It's set to begin filming this year and is expected to be released in 2025.
James will play the lead, having already undergone a remarkable transformation for her role as Pamela Anderson in the biographical series Pam & Tommy. Sources say that the rest of the casting is still in progress, while the plot remains a mystery – it's thought be inspired by Wolfe Herd's life rather than directly based on it.
The real-life story of the dating app founder is well-known. Wolfe Herd famously left Tinder, which she co-founded, in 2014, going on to launch Bumble as a key competitor in the same year.
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The app made headlines for adopting the new model of requiring women to send the first message after a match (in same-sex matches, either person can initiate the chat). When the company went public in 2021, Wolfe Herd's stocks made her the youngest self-made female billionaire at the time.
She stepped down as CEO of Bumble in 2023, but remains as executive chair of the company. The app remains popular, reportedly engaging more than 50 million active users as of 2023.
We'll have to wait to find out more details about the project, but it certainly has all the makings of a thrilling movie.
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