Many writers got their start on the online story-sharing site Wattpad, and these Wattpad original stories have all been adapted into movies and TV shows. Since fandom activities began to grow with the release of the originalStar Trekseries and the prevalence of conventions, there has been fanfiction. Many websites have cropped up over the years that have allowed fans to stretch their creativity through fanfiction, like Archive of Our Own and Wattpad. Both platforms also allow writers to share original writing, hone their craft, and grow an audience.
Because of the growing popularity of Wattpad among writers, there are many writers who have utilized the platform to allow their audience to find them online. They self-publish their stories or can even end up finding an agent because of that audience. There are a handful of those writers who have gone on to become bestsellers or see their work adapted for the screen.
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After
Cast
After centers on a young woman who begins a romantic relationship with a mysterious student quickly after attending a new college. After was released in 2019 and based on Anna Todd’s 2014 romantic drama book of the same name. After launched a franchise, with four sequels coming out in the subsequent years.
One of the biggest success stories for Wattpad adaptations istheAfter movies.Anna Todd originally started writing the stories that would become theAftermovies on Wattpadd, publishing about one chapter a day through the platform for over a year(viaCosmopolitan). That became the initial trilogy, which would eventually be published in physical books before she would add an additional novel and prequel novella to the set.
While many of the Wattpad novels that have been adapted have been created around original characters, Todd was inspired in the creation of her main character by former One Direction member and musician Harry Styles. While the character of Hardin Scott in the movies is, arguably, far different from Styles, he helped jump-start her creative writing process. That connection got a lot of people interested in the movies when they were adapted for Netflix.
The movies have garnered a lot of comparisons toFifty Shades of Gray(but lighter in nature), which also got its start asTwilightfanfiction, and the comparisons are not unfounded as they both focus on romantic relationships that play with power dynamics and go through a lot of ups-and-downs.While the movies had to move away from the novels in a lot of ways to condense the story for the screen, fans of the book series have praised the movies much more than critics have.
Todd now has her own imprint through Wattpad which publishes her original novels.
The Tearsmith
The Tearsmith, directed by Alessandro Genovesi, follows adopted siblings Nica and Rigel as they navigate their emotions and unexpected bonds formed after a challenging upbringing in an orphanage.
One of the most recent Wattpad adaptations isThe Tearsmith.The story was originally penned and published on Wattpad by Erin Doom before it was adapted by Netflix.
In this story, a teenage girl and boy who have been living as orphans are being adopted by the same family. While the girl’s painful past has made her kind, the boy’s has filled him with anger. She originally believes being adopted alongside him will be the worst experience, but they become drawn to each other. Playing out beside their live story is one of the fairy tales they’ve grown up knowing of the tearsmith, a person who can create crystal tears and capture the intense pain of the human experience.
While the movie does stray from the source material and change up the timeline of some events, overall it’s a faithful adaptation. Critics did not love it, and fans were largely split on it, butthe movie does its best to explore the ramifications of a traumatizing childhood while falling for someone.
13He’s Into Her (2021)
Based On The Novel By Maxine Lat Calibuso
Calibuso (who publishes under the name Maxinejiji) has a “season 3” of the story despite the show seemingly being canceled after season 2.
The Philippine seriesHe’s Into Herdebuted its first season on television in 2021. It follows a teenage girl who has been raised by her grandmother and uncle in a rural area after the death of her mother. She is surprised when her wealthy father, whom she has been estranged from, offers to pay for her grandmother’s healthcare and moves in with him to attend a new school. There, one of the students targets her with pranks and gets the rest of the class in on it before developing real feelings for her.
While the characters in the show remain the same as the stories that inspired the show, the adaptation takes a lot of liberties with the storylines, making it vastly different for fans who might have loved Maxine Lat Calibuso’s original Wattpad series. Of course, for fans of her books, Calibuso (who publishes under the name Maxinejiji) has a “season 3” of the story despite the show seemingly being canceled after season 2.
The TV series adaptation earned the award for Best Drama Miniseries at the 35th PMPC Star Awards for Television, which recognizes outstanding programming by TV networks in the Philippines.
Based On The Novel By Alesana Marie
Talk Back And You’re Deadstars James Reid and Nadine Lustre, a popular romantic comedy team in the Philippines. The two appeared in several projects together in the 2010s, and some cynical critics argued that the only reason the movie was made was so that the actors could do another rom-com together.
Talk Back And You’re Deadfollows a young woman (Lustre) who gets into an argument with a man (Reid) when she thinks he is cheating on her friend. It turns out he was not, but their argument is recorded and goes viral despite the truth. He also happens to be a member of the Lucky 13 gang and wants to get back at her for embarrassing him, but their feelings for one another grow over time.
Fans of the original Wattpad story will need to be warned though: there are seven books in Alesana Marie’s series and this movie only pulls events from the first two, so not everything makes it onto the screen.
A sequel to the movie calledNever Talk Back To A Gangster, also based on Alesana Marie’s sequel novel, was planned but has never been made.
11The Rain In España (2023)
Based On The University Series Novel By Gwy Saludes
The idea of adapting Wattpad stories for the screen really took off in the Philippines in the 2010s. This is yet another example of that as the writer and the TV series inspired by her novel are both from the country as well.Unlike a lot of the Wattpad stories that have made the jump to the screen, this one is mostly faithful to the source material and has seen a lot more success with fans of the original story.
The Rain In Españais a miniseries that adapts the first novel in a series of novels published by Gwy Saludes on Wattpad called theUniversity Series. This first installment follows a young woman studying architecture at university who crosses paths with a young man studying law. While they form an attachment to one another, things do not always go as planned, and the show looks into where they are 10 years after meeting when they’re both working in their respective fields.
The 2023 seriesSafe Skies, Archeris a spin-off of this series, also by the same writer.
10Cupid’s Match (2018)
Based On The Story By Lauren Palphreyman
Cupid’s Matchis actually one of the few Wattpad adaptations here that did not make it all the way through the development process.The story follows a young woman who finds herself matched to the actual Cupid through a dating service. It combines elements of mythology with the modern dating world.
The story was one of several that Wattpad had filmmakers create trailers for to pitch them as series. They were voted on by visitors to the site to see if any of them would be financed to film a pilot.While a pilot episode ofCupid’s Matchwas filmed for CWSeed, the CW’s streaming service, a full series was never ordered.It was done at a time when the CW and it’s associated properties were going through some creative changes, so perhaps it was not seen as a good fit for the streamer or the network at the time.
There are still plenty of fans who hope the story is eventually adapted for the screen since myth in the modern day is seeing a resurgence in popular media thanks to things likePercy Jackson and the Olympianson Disney+ andKaoson Netflix.
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Through My Window: Across The Sea
Through My Window: Across The Sea picks up the story of Raquel and Ares as they continue where they left off having confessed their feelings for one another. Ares faces a crucial decision about his future career that might take him far from Raquel, while she deals with her own issues at home, testing one another’s love through distance and beyond.
According toher official website, Ariana Godoy discovered Wattpad in 2009. She had been writing on her own for some time and decided to share her stories online. After doing that,she became one of the most popular and recognized writers on the platform.While her first trilogy of novels was published through Wattpad, Penguin Random House published the first paper copies of any of her books, and she’s become incredibly successful with multiple trilogies and standalone novels out in the world.
Godoy’s most popular of those trilogies isThe Hidalgo Trilogy, which was adapted into a trilogy of movies,starting withThrough My Window,for Netflix. The story kicks off with Raquel’s seemingly unrequited crush on her neighbor as she finds out that maybe it is not so unrequited after all. The stories progress to include other characters, including the brothers of that neighbor in the first novel.
While the movie did not hit with critics, it did moderately better with viewers who were intrigued by the adaptation.Godoy’s novels are especially popular in Spanish-speaking countries, so the trilogy are all Spanish-language films.
Godoy’sSigue Mi Vozis also being adapted for the screen after originally being published on Wattpad.
light as a feather
Light as a Feather follows five teenage girls who encounter sinister events after playing an innocent game. As the predictions come true and the group members start dying, the remaining teens must uncover the truth behind the menacing force pursuing them, questioning its connection to their own circle.
This Wattpad story was adapted into a serial format by Hulu. It breaks with tradition a bit since this series is a mystery and so many of the Wattpad adaptations are more straightforward romances.With two seasons and a total of 26 episodes, it ended in 2019, but it boasts an impressive cast of talent. Liana Liberato, Haley Ramm, Brianne Tju, and Jordan Rodrigues star in the short-lived series.
The story follows a group of friends who decide to play a supernatural board game brought to them by the new girl in school. When members of the friend group start to die in the very ways predicted by the game, one of the members of the group starts to wonder if there’s more going on than just a coincidence and enlists her neighbor to help her investigate just what is happening.
Light As A Featheris one of the most lauded of the Wattpad adaptations that have made it to the screen so far. During its run, it was nominated for 10 Daytime Emmy Awards.
Perfect Addiction
Perfect Addiction is a romantic drama sports-focused film that follows MMA trainer Sienna Lane who discovers that her boyfriend, the current champion of the underground MMA scene, has been unfaithful to her - with her sister. To get even, Sienna decides to train his rival/nemesis to end his streak, but she may find more than just a tool for revenge in him.
While a lot of the Wattpad novels that have been adapted for the screen have focused on teenagers and high school students specifically, Tan is classified as a “new adult” writer. She writes about characters just out of school, characters who are just starting their adult lives.
Perfect Addictionis inspired by the first book in her Perfect trilogy, which has seen more than 160 million views on Wattpad.The story follows a young woman whose whole world is thrown off balance when she finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her with her sister. She works in a local gym and teams up with the very boxer who beat her boyfriend not too long ago. Though the two do not get along at first, real feelings grow between them.
Tan’s original story won the People’s Choice Awards at Wattpad’s own competition, the Watty’s.
6Turn On (2021)
Based On The Story By Tiara Wales
Turn Onwas adapted into an Indonesian series for the streaming channel Vidio. Vidio broadcasts across several Asian countries and Wattpad has contracted with them to provide several more novel-to-series adaptations, so it’s likely fans will see a lot more adaptations in the near future.
Turn Onran for two seasons, both of eight episodes, so it’s a relatively quick binge for those who can access it.The series follows an executive in a tech company who forms a bond with one of his employees. While he is an affluent member of society, she struggles to stay afloat. The two form a mostly transactional relationship to start with the idea that there are no emotional strings between them, but as is often the case, their relationship becomes more.
Turn Onis the third-highest-ranked Indonesian Wattpad story on the platform, so it’s no wonder it was chosen for an adaptation. The story has had 20 million readers.
