Beautiful Disaster (film)

Beautiful Disaster is a 2023 American romantic comedy drama film directed and written by Roger Kumble. Based on Jamie McGuire's 2011 novel, the film follows Abby, a college freshman, in hopes to reinvent herself while trying to resist her attraction to bad boy, Travis.

The film was released in theaters on April 12, 2023, and was released digitally on May 2, 2023. A sequel, Beautiful Wedding was released in theaters on January 24, 2024.

Plot
Abby Abernathy, groomed from a young age by her father to excel at cards, leaves her home in Las Vegas in hopes of reinventing herself in college. She is roommates with her old friend Mer, who on her first night takes her to a secret fight club. There, Abby and the star fighter Travis have instant chemistry.

The next day, Abby pays for her first semester to the bursar in cash but is warned that future payments must be done through the bank. Talking about it with Mer, Travis pops by and throws her off guard, then disappears.

Travis reappears in Abby's class, catching her spying on him on Instagram. He insists on picking her up later for a dinner date. Although Abby does meet with him at the designated time, she dresses in a decidedly non-sexy way, won't allow him to pay and clearly establishes they are only platonic friends. Travis tells her about his family, but she divulges nothing about herself before calling it a night.

When Abby's dorm has a water issue, Travis's cousin and Mer's boyfriend Shepley lets Abby stay in their apartment. Travis offers her a spot on his massive bed, but in the morning, she accidentally stimulates him.

After Abby has a dinner date with fellow student Parker, he takes them to watch a fight. Turning out to be another Travis fight, she talks with him beforehand, and he makes a wager with her, which he wins. As he won the match without his opponent touching him, Abby must stay in his apartment for a month.

A few weeks in, Travis takes Abby home to meet his dad and four brothers. Soon, they break out cards and chips for poker. Initially opting out, eventually they deal her in. When she cleans house, her Vegas background is revealed, that she is the infamous Lucky 13.

The following days they get closer and closer, culminating in Travis and Abby starting to get it on. Panicking, she throws him to the floor and seeks Mer. Abby believes she's in love with him, but before she can return, Travis bolts. He'd not known a message from Mick on her computer was from her father, whom she'd avoided engaging with since she left Vegas. Abby leaves, furious, and is later found asleep in the library by Parker. After Shepley sends out an APB for her, he takes her to her surprise birthday party.

Drinking and dancing all night, Travis finds Abby, stops her drinking and nurses her. Thanks to him, by 1 p.m. she wakes, hangover free. After Travis gives her a full body massage, they finally make love. In the morning, back at her dorm, a car is waiting for her as her dad has a great debt to Benny.

Heading to Vegas, supposedly so Abby can pay back her father's $100,000 debt, she is successful and about to leave when a security guard she grew up with stops her. He confiscates the money as she's under 21. Told she still owes the money, Travis offers to participate in an amateur prize fight to win it back.

Meanwhile, Abby discovers it was a ruse, Mick's ploy to get her gambling for him. She gets the money back with a taser, then heads to stop the fight. Starting a fire as a distraction, she and recently arrived Shepley rescue Travis.

Production
In 2012, Warner Bros. Entertainment optioned the film rights for Beautiful Disaster, but the project never went into development and the Warner Bros. option ended May 13, 2014. In 2020, it was optioned by Voltage Pictures, production began in 2021 with Roger Kumble directing, and Dylan Sprouse, Rob Estes and Virginia Gardner in the cast.

The project received public criticism due to McGuire's controversial far-right political statements.

Release
Beautiful Disaster was released in the United States for two nights only, April 12–13, as part of Fathom Events. It was released on digital platforms by Vertical Entertainment on May 3, 2023. The film began streaming on Hulu August 11, 2023.

Sequel
A sequel was released in theaters on January 24, 2024.