Admiration for celebrities or popular intellectual property (IP) can lead people to do many things, and for some, that means creating fanfiction, which is fictional writing by fans or amateurs based on an existing work of fiction. Fictional stories based on or about famous faces and characters have been a constant on the internet for decades, with platforms like Wattpad serving as a way for fans to let their stories out to the world. And let’s be honest, when have you not thought about fake scenarios with your favorite stars or characters? Exactly.
But for some fanfiction stories, they go beyond internet screens and become big-screen adaptations because in Hollywood, even fanfiction can be mined for ideas. Scroll down for the movies that can trace some of their origins to someone deciding to put fanfiction into writing.
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After – Based on One Direction Fanfiction
The After movie series on Netflix centers on college students Hardin and Tessa as they fall in love and navigate their complicated and sometimes toxic relationship. If this dating trope sounds like something you’d read on Wattpad, that’s because it is. The movies are based on the popular book series written by Anna Todd, which imagined the members of One Direction going to college, with Harry Styles being the male lead who fell in love with Tessa. As you can expect, the movies needed to undergo several changes from the source material.
Fifty Shades of Grey – Based on Twilight Fanfiction
With its unapologetic portrayal of BDSM and romantic themes, the Fifty Shades novels and movie series have inspired countless fanfiction. But the series itself also got its start as fanfiction. Author E. L. James initially wrote Fifty Shades of Grey as Twilight fanfiction called Masters of the Universe and uploaded her stories on FanFiction.net. Over time, James’ work evolved before it became the novel series we all know and love (and love to hate and read in private).
The Mortal Instruments: The City of Bones – Inspired by Harry Potter Fanfiction
Whether it be the 2013 movie adaptation or the TV series reboot in the late 2010s, the Mortal Instruments series has built a niche but solid fan base over the years. And behind the franchise is a potential link to Harry Potter. Before she published Mortal Instruments, author Cassandra Claire wrote Harry Potter fanfiction called The Draco Trilogy, which followed Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy switching bodies. It’s this series that is reported to have been an inspiration for Mortal Instruments.
The Love Hypothesis – Based on Star Wars Fanfiction
Among the many, many pop culture discussions that popped up with the new Star Wars trilogy was the shipping that happened between Rey and Kylo Ren, popularly known as Reylo. As you can imagine, the fanfiction soon followed, such as this movie that’s adapted from a novel that has its origins in Star Wars fanfiction.
The Love Hypothesis was originally published online as Head over Feet in 2018 about Rey and Kylo Ren. When it was published in print, that version understandably removed the Star Wars references and changed the characters to Olive and Adam (which is actually a reference to the name of Kylo Ren’s actor, Adam Driver). It follows Ph.D. student Olive as she tries to convince her friend that her love life is going fine by fake dating her college professor Adam, who, as you guessed it, eventually falls in love.
The book would go on to be a New York Times bestseller and BookTok hit, which was then adapted into a movie by Prime Video. Funnily enough, the actor who plays Adam in the movie, Tom Bateman, is married to Daisy Ridley, the actress who played Rey in the sequel trilogy.
The Idea of You – Inspired by Harry Styles Fanfiction
Prime Video strikes again, and this time turning to a novel that has its roots in a British pop star. Starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, The Idea of You is adapted from a novel by Robinne Lee that is said to be inspired by Harry Styles after Lee learned about Styles one night, which initially put the idea of the novel in her mind.
While the author has gone on to state that it’s not a direct reference to Styles, the similarities are hard to ignore, as it follows a young British pop star named Hayes from a famous boy group called August Moon falling in love with Solène, a 40-year-old divorced mom, after they run into each other at Coachella.
Gabriel’s Inferno – Based on Twilight Fanfiction
While many may not be familiar with this trilogy from the early 2020s by Passionflix, its source material combines the tried-and-true formula for fanfiction: Twilight, a school setting, teacher and student relationship, and endless yearning. Before Gabriel’s Inferno became a book and movie trilogy, it was originally published anonymously by Sylvain Reynard online under the title The University of Edward Masen. Here, Edward and Bella were a brooding professor and a shy student, respectively, who fell in love with each other. The novel changed their names to Gabriel and Julianne but kept the plot and school setting relatively intact.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Based on Pride and Prejudice Fanfiction
What if Pride and Prejudice had zombies? It’s this idea that led Seth Grahame-Smith to write the novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in 2009, which was then adapted into a movie of the same name in 2016 starring Lily James and Sam Riley. The title says it all, and it also is fanfiction in its purest form, as it reimagines a popular story, which in this case is Jane Austen’s classic love story, and gives it an absurd twist that has its moments if you give it the chance.
Wicked – Based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Fanfiction
Yes, this movie is based on the popular Broadway musical. But did you know that the musical is loosely based on a novel from 1995 that can be considered fanfiction? Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire isn’t a sequel, prequel, or spin-off of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but instead takes its characters and settings to imagine new stories, in this case the origin story of Elphaba and Galinda and what happens to them after Dorothy arrived in Oz.
When you think about it, it’s kind of iconic how someone’s fanfic has become one of the de facto ways The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is experienced today.
Featured Image: Courtesy of Prime Video
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