‘Verity’ director reacts to leaked bloody photos of Dakota Johnson from set

Verity director Michael Showalter has revealed his real through on leaked photos from the film set that went viral earlier this year, giving fans a shocking first look at the highly anticipated Colleen Hoover adaptation.

While speaking to PEOPLE at the December 2 premiere of his holiday film Oh. What. Fun., the director reacted to the frenzy sparked by images of Dakota Johnson appearing bloodied while filming in New York City alongside co star Josh Hartnett.

“I mean, it was sort of wild to see that — how viral that went. But you know, people love Colleen Hoover and people love Dakota and people love blood and so the combination of those three things, I think, were a perfect storm,” he said.

Showalter further expressed, “I’m so excited for the movie.”

The leaked photos, taken in March, appeared to capture a dramatic moment from Hoover’s bestselling novel involving a car accident with a cyclist.

Hartnett, 47, was seen arriving at the scene in character as Jeremy Crawford, later crossing the street with Johnson’s character.

Johnson – who plays struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh, who lands a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to finish a successful series by the titular novelist.

The Amazon MGM Studios movie also stars Anne Hathaway as best-selling thriller author Verity Crawford. Hathaway was also seen filming Verity in N.Y.C. with Harnett in February.