Anne Hathaway Vanishes Into a Plume of Smoke After Verity

Anne Hathaway marked the theatrical opening of Verity by vanishing into “a plume of smoke,” fulfilling a joke she had previewed in press, USA TODAY and E! News reported after an Oct. 2 Instagram video.

In the clip, shared as the Colleen Hoover adaptation opened in theaters Friday, Hathaway appears heading to a premiere and notes that Verity arrives Oct. 2 — then an animated smoke burst removes her from frame. A crew member asks where she went before faux headlines announce her disappearance, both outlets recount. The video closes with thanks for an incredible, unforgettable year,” USA TODAY notes, and a light send-off urging peers including Zendaya, Tom, Rob, and Florence to “bring it home.”

The bit tracks remarks Hathaway made to Entertainment Tonight: after five 2026 releases she planned to “vanish in a plume of smoke” on Oct. 3 and take time off.

“You’re not gonna see me until you have to,” she told ET, according to both USA TODAY and E! News. On premiere night she told the same outlet she looked forward to an open calendar, yoga classes, and nesting around her children’s schedule after a year heavy on logistics. E! News places the ET interview around Sept. 21 and notes she also discussed the year’s press volume on CBS Mornings on Oct. 2, saying she wanted to “show up fully for each film” even while wondering whether audiences might tire of seeing her everywhere.

Verity co-stars Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett. Hathaway plays novelist Verity Crawford opposite Johnson’s ghostwriter Lowen Ashleigh, with Hartnett as Jeremy; the plot follows Lowen uncovering disturbing secrets after Verity is left unable to speak following an accident, USA TODAY summarizes. Hathaway’s 2026 slate also included Mother Mary (April), The Devil Wears Prada 2 (May), Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (July), and The End of Oak Street (August), both outlets list.

She announced a third pregnancy with husband Adam Shulman earlier in 2026, E! News notes, and has described the year’s pace as both lucky and demanding.

The Instagram gag is theatrical branding more than a hard news event, but it cleanly closes a rare five-film calendar and signals a deliberate pause rather than a controversy. No box-office weekend totals are claimed here; opening-weekend tallies were still settling when USA TODAY and E! published.

For readers following celebrity press cycles on Daily News, verified as of Oct. 2–3 reports: Hathaway’s Instagram gag matches her ET promise to step back after Verity; the film opened theatrically Oct. 2; the break is framed as rest and family time, not a career exit; dual coverage from USA TODAY and E! News supports the timeline without inventing quotes beyond what those outlets attributed.