Cover Prime Video has been streaming many Wattpad adaptations in the last few years (Photo: Lionsgate / IMDB)
Prime Video has been streaming many Wattpad adaptations in the last few years (Photo: Lionsgate / IMDB)
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As streaming platforms and studios continue to mine Wattpad for fresh content, these types of digital stories are here to stay
In 2019, Robert Eggers’ arthouse psychological thriller The Lighthouse, starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, earned less than US$19 million. During the same period, a little-known teen romance starring the guy who played young Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince earned nearly US$69.5 million. The latter was widely panned by critics, but it ended up winning all the same.
This has happened before. Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, which won the Best Picture Oscar, the Cate Blanchett-starrer TAR and the star-studded The French Dispatch have all been beaten by Wattpad adaptations. What is it about these light-hearted films from the storytelling platform that’s making bank at the box office?
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Wattpad was founded in 2006 by Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen. It was a story-sharing site where users could write and publish personal fictional pieces. Though many “real” writers scoff at its framework, Wattpad offers aspiring writers an unfiltered conduit to a global audience, bypassing traditional gatekeepers. This democratisation fosters a vibrant community where real-time feedback fuels creative growth. Currently, it boasts over 90 million monthly users.
Like anything with an open-door policy, however, the content quality varies. Still, the platform has become a veritable incubator for stories that leap from screen-lit devices to the silver screen. Moreover, Wattpad adaptations have millions of dedicated readers who are emotionally invested in their characters and eager to see their favourite stories on screen.
You can scoff at Wattpad, but these stories and the subsequent film adaptations are offering something that resonates with the current audience. It gives them exactly what they crave—drama, romance and emotional payoff—without the pretence of highbrow storytelling. It might not be high art, but it’s highly effective entertainment.
1. ‘After’ (2019)
What happens when an innocent college freshman falls for a brooding bad boy with a secret past? After, based on Anna Todd’s novel (originally One Direction fan fiction), delivers a steamy, emotionally charged romance that had fans swooning—and critics rolling their eyes. The movie centres around Tessa Young (Josephine Langford), a straight-laced student who finds herself entangled with Hardin Scott (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), a rebellious Brit with a penchant for quoting literature and breaking hearts.
Their whirlwind romance is filled with intensity, betrayal and endless will-they-won’t-they moments. It’s a formula that worked. After all, it earned US$69.5 million worldwide, beating The Lighthouse. After has four sequels (box office total: US$168.9 million), with two more in the works.
2. ‘The Kissing Booth’ (2018)
What started as a lighthearted teen romance on Wattpad turned into one of Netflix’s biggest young adult franchises. Beth Reekles’ novel follows Elle Evans (Joey King), a high school girl who breaks an unspoken rule by falling for her best friend’s (Joel Courtney) older brother, Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi).
Packed with clichés, a fairytale romance and just the right amount of teenage drama, The Kissing Booth resonated with audiences, became one of Netflix’s most rewatched films of the year and spawned two sequels. Though critics dismissed it as predictable fluff, viewers couldn't get enough of the trilogy. Sometimes, people just want a feel-good rom-com.
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3. ‘Light as a Feather’ (2018–2019)
This spooky supernatural thriller brought Zoe Aarsen’s Wattpad hit to life, turning a seemingly harmless party game into a deadly curse. The story revolves around a group of high school girls (Liana Liberato, Haley Ramm, Ajiona Alexus and Brianne Tju) who play “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board” only to find that their predicted deaths are coming true in horrifyingly precise ways.
The Hulu adaptation of Light as a Feather delivered creepy twists, psychological terror and binge-worthy suspense, earning praise for its eerie atmosphere. A standout in the Wattpad-to-TV pipeline, it carved out a niche beyond romance and was even nominated for a Daytime Emmy.
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4. ‘Through My Window’ (2022)
Ariana Godoy’s novel brought Spanish Wattpad romance to the mainstream, telling the story of Raquel (Clara Galle), a girl obsessed with her handsome, arrogant neighbour Ares (Julio Peña). What starts as an innocent infatuation quickly escalates into a full-fledged, intense romance.
With passionate chemistry, high drama and just the right amount of emotional turmoil, Through My Window became a global hit, leading to two sequels (Through You and Through the Sea). It solidified Wattpad’s power in non-English markets. After all, teen romance is universal, whether set in Spain, the US or anywhere in between. It was in the Netflix Top 10 in multiple countries.
5. ‘Float’ (2023)
Kate Marchant’s Float features the story of Waverly (Andrea Bang), a city girl forced to spend the summer in a sleepy beach town. There, she meets Blake (Robbie Amell), a lifeguard who teaches her how to swim and steals her heart in the process. With over 25.5 million reads on Wattpad, the novel’s adaptation was eagerly awaited. The final output had mixed reviews but its loyal following was pretty satisfied.
6. ‘My Fault’ (‘Culpa Mía’, 2023)
Mercedes Ron’s Culpa Mía introduced Wattpad fans to a forbidden, tension-filled romance between step-siblings Noah (Nicole Wallace) and Nick (Gabriel Guevara). Their love-hate relationship is packed with drama, family secrets and undeniable chemistry, merging angst and passion.
Despite its controversial premise, the film skyrocketed to streaming success and was Prime Video’s most-watched Spanish-language film of the year. Audiences are hungry for high-stakes romance, and this film definitely delivered. Given its popularity, sequels Culpa Tuya and Culpa Nuestra are already in the works.
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