Romance book-to-screen adaptations have once again become a popular trend in storytelling. This year has already brought us several online mainstays, including Netflix’s film People We Meet on Vacation and the Heated Rivalry series.
And February, the month of love, will be bringing even more adaptations that are certain to excite romance enthusiasts.
This month’s adaptations include Kissing Is the Easy Part (releasing on Tubi), and Love Me Love Me (releasing on Prime Video). Just in time for Valentine’s Day, both films will release on February 13. Even though these two romance releases are premiering on separate platforms, there’s one thing that unites them: Wattpad.
Wattpad is an online writing platform that has given users the platform to create and publish their own stories since 2006, whether they are original works or fan fiction inspired by other media.
And when stories published on Wattpad gain traction with readers, that catches the attention of Wattpad’s Head of Content, Alessandra Ferreri.
“Both Kissing Is the Easy Part and Love Me Love Me have been extremely popular romance stories on Wattpad for a while now, accumulating over 32 million and 24 million reads respectively,” Ferreri noted. “This is one of the things that makes Wattpad stories unique. They can come with built-in audiences and fan bases that already love the story and have developed emotional connections to the characters.”
With numbers like that, it is only a matter of time before Wattpad’s most popular works get the Hollywood adaptation treatment — and casting plays a critical role in that process.
“Casting is an art form in itself, and we like to leave that job to the professionals at the studios,” Ferreri agreed. “It’s been so exciting to see actors bring characters from Wattpad original stories to the screen. Like Noah Beck becoming Drayton Lahey in Sidelined: The QB and Me!”
While Wattpad and the authors on the platform don’t have as much input in the adaptation process, Ferreri says it is “still exciting to see stories from the platform reimagined for the screen and brought to new audiences.”
“Wattpad is lucky to have such strong relationships with both our authors and studio partners, which has allowed for many Wattpad original stories to be adapted for TV and film over the years,” Ferreri explained.
“Despite the necessary changes made when adapting between mediums, as long as the heart and emotional truth of a story remain, it can still feel authentic to the original story that fans fell in love with.”
The romance genre is considered the platform’s most popular genre for user-generated stories.
However, Wattpad has been on the front lines of changing trends for a long time. Ferreri broke down the factors that play into these story trends:
“A genre might be ‘lifting off’ when we see its performance data shift from noise to more of a signal. Like a surge in writers writing more of it or readers seeking it out,” Ferreri said. “Sometimes that comes from the demand being external, like a popular TV show or pop culture moment, and sometimes it’s the lack of one.”
“The Content Strategy Team and I can trace trends that are popular now, like mafia romance, sports romance that go back years on the platform. It reveals how the hottest tropes and genres of today might have come to be in the spotlight,” Ferreri continued. “Once popularity reaches its peak, it often comes down to the emotional core of stories which will resonate with readers beyond genre lines. And that’s wholly up to individual tastes.”
“It’s also important to consider that some trends are cyclical and others are evergreen. So just because something isn’t trendy right now doesn’t mean there isn’t still an appetite for it and it won’t come back again in a different shape or form.”
During Ferreri’s time with Wattpad, there was one instance in the fanfiction genre that truly saw a community reach its peak. It revolved around One Direction and its fandom.
“The One Direction fandom in particular has brought a lot of eyeballs and readers to the platform,” Ferreri confirmed. “I actually started working at Wattpad during the 1D peak. So many fics were circulating on the platform at the time, but none were as popular as After by Anna Todd.”
Eventually, After was adapted for film in 2019, exposing the story to a “new wave of fans beyond just the Directioners on Wattpad.”
“To this day, After is the most well-known story on Wattpad with the largest read count of over 726 million, and we’ve continued to see the boyband interest continue with BTS and K-pop dominating the platform over the past few years in a similar way.”
Wattpad has continued to play its role in the larger fanfiction movement for decades now.
“Wattpad has always held a unique place on the internet, originating alongside places like Ao3 and Tumblr when digital storytelling and online fandom communities were really establishing themselves. So there is a history there that I think has absolutely lent itself to romance trends we are seeing now.”
“In just the past year, Wattpad authors and stories have created a romance renaissance on screens, with many hit adaptations such as Sigue Mi Voz, My Life with the Walter Boys, Sidelined, and Mala Influencia, becoming pop culture hits,” Ferreri added.
“Once something goes mainstream, it is not uncommon for fandoms and online communities to continue to ideate upon the stories and trends they love. It leads to a cycle where Wattpad and mainstream media are consistently feeding into one another and adapting to and from those spaces.”
“Social media users have also coined terms like ‘Wattpad Fantasy’ and ‘Wattpad Coded’ — whether or not the story actually originated on Wattpad, calling it Wattpad coded instantly signals a certain kind of storytelling: unfiltered, character-driven, and unconcerned with traditional rules of realism.”
Even though romance is one of the most popular genres on Wattpad, Ferreri and the team have also looked into how tropes are utilized within these genres.
“While romance is one of the most popular genres among readers on Wattpad, there are stories on the platform that span every genre, trope, and mashup imaginable,” Ferreri said. “Often, it’s less about the specific genre and more about the ways our community seeks out the tropes or vibes they love.”
Ferreri says that Wattpad also keeps a list of which stories have the potential to receive a screen adaptation.
“Our teams are always on the hunt for new standout stories. But as we all have our own individual tastes when it comes to what we want to see on screens, that list is long and very eclectic! There is always something new and interesting on the platform. So keep an eye out for the next Wattpad original story to hit screens.”
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Kissing Is the Easy Part premieres on Friday, February 13, on Tubi. Love Me Love Me premieres on Friday, February 13, on Prime Video.
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Chris Gallardo
Christopher Gallardo is an entertainment writer, critic, and member of New York Film Critics Online. While not running his own social channels, Chris can be found writing reviews and breakdowns on all things films and TV for multiple outlets. Plus, he loves Percy Jackson, animated films and shows, and Fallout! You can find him anywhere on social media at @chrisagwrites.