This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Fainite Auguste. Find her on Instagram at @ceilingdancing. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
In the world full of remakes, reboots and revivals, Fanfiction movies are gaining more popularity and may become the new normal.
What is Fanfiction
Fanfiction is written by a fan of a certain media. It takes the characters of a movie or show and adds to the existing cinematic world. Take a look at our articles expanding on what fanfiction is.
Fifty Shades of Gray
There are three installments to the Fifty Shades of series. British author E. L. James wrote Fifty Shades of Grey in 2011. After its success, James published Fifty Shades Darker in 2012) and Fifty Shades Freed in 2012. It was originally written as a fanfiction about the popular series, Twilight. It was originally called Master of the Universe, and Edward Cullen was the mysterious businessman.
The series follows the relationship between college graduate Anastasia Steele and rich businessman Christian Grey. After Anastasia’s interviews with Christian, he introduces Anastasia to the world of BDSM. Christian Grey draws up a contract describing the sexual and physical way he wants to control Anesthesia.
The movies catapulted Dakota Johnson’s career. The series was wildly successful because of its sex scenes and overall shocking plot. The soundtracks were amazing. The production team convinced Ellie Goulding, The Weekend, Zayn Malik, and even Taylor Swift to create songs for the movies.
The After Series
The plot centers around the positive and negative experiences of a romantic relationship between a young couple named Tessa and Harden. It all began with a bet Harden made with his friends that he could convince Tessa to sleep with him. After some first back and forth the two do sleep with each other. Tessa becomes intrigued and sympathetic for Harden as they get to know each other. In my opinion, the two bring out the absolute worst in each other. Harden often brings Tessa down with his manipulation and childish tantrums. Harden Scott is a struggling alcoholic who is a few years above the main character, Tessa.
The truth inevitably is revealed to the main character. The two break up but they re-enter each other’s lives in the second movie. Tessa and Harden are on and off again up until the last 10 minutes of the third movie.
The character Harden Scott is based on Harry Styles. Although Styles was young and still figuring out who he was, the One Direction fandom dubbed him “the bad boy” because of his tattoos. Harry Styles was seen as a womanizer in his late teens and early twenties. He dated several famous women and models in the 2010s.
The Idea of You
The Idea of You is clearly referencing the real-life boy band One Direction. It follows a 40-year-old mother who meets and starts a relationship with one of the members. The romantic lead, Hayden Campbell, is based on Harry Styles. The tattoos, charisma, and bad boy persona are identical to Styles in the 2010’s.
The movie gained massive amounts of attention before its release because its leads are Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine. Anne Hathaway is an established actress in Hollywood and Nicholas Galitinze has been having a great year in both movies and tv shows.
Wattpad Studios
Wattpad Studios partners with bigger-name studios to co-produce original Wattpad stories for TV, film, digital video, and print. The After movies were released under the Wattpad Studios label. It has also produced one of my favorite movies, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.
Many people do not take Wattpad Studios seriously because of the fanfiction roots but I think it’s a great way for independent authors to have a studio backing them. It is only a matter of time until Wattpad Studios gains more credibility. Before we know it more Fanfiction like movies and even shows will be in production.
What do you think about these studios turning fanfaction into movies? Let us know!
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