Jared Padalecki's Netflix adaptation retitled Guarding Stars

Movieweb reports Jared Padalecki's upcoming Netflix adaptation of Katherine Center's 2022 novel The Bodyguard has been retitled Guarding Stars to avoid confusion with the 1992 Kevin Costner film of the same name. Leighton Meester will co-star with Padalecki; the film centers on bodyguard Hannah Brooks (Meester) being assigned to protect actor Jack Stapleton (Padalecki) from a stalker, with Stapleton bringing Brooks to his family ranch where she poses as his girlfriend and a romance develops.

The novel had often been labeled The Bodyguard: The Novel to distinguish it from the Costner picture, and, the report says, Henry confirmed the title change was related to the 1992 film: "We had to change the title because there already is a movie called The Bodyguard. That’s already iconic, and this movie needs to be iconic in its own way." The basic outline flips the genders compared with the earlier movie, with the book featuring a female bodyguard protecting a male actor and the 1992 film featuring a male bodyguard protecting a female star.

Guarding Stars is set to release during the holiday season of 2026 and will set the story at Christmas. The film will mark Padalecki's first on‑screen film appearance in 17 years since 2009's Friday the 13th (he voiced the English dub of Phantom Boy in 2015) and follows his long television run on Supernatural (2005–2020) and Walker (2021–2024).

Key Topics

Culture, Jared Padalecki, Leighton Meester, Katherine Center, Guarding Stars, The Bodyguard