Not too long ago, romance stories that began on the internet, like The Kissing Booth and The Idea of You, had to be published by major imprints before being adapted into movies with significant stars. Now, Wattpad is cutting out the middleman. The smutty-story platform’s second-most-popular English-language story, “Chasing Red,” by Isabelle Ronin, is being adapted directly into a film, per Variety. And the producers are shelling out for popular Gen-Z actors: Riverdale’s Madelaine Petsch and The Summer I Turned Pretty star Gavin Casalegno, both well known from their respective teen soaps, will play the central lovers. The film will be directed by Mackenzie Munro with a screenplay by Lauren Schacher, and it begins production in December in Saudi Arabia. The story is a classic enemies-to-lovers trope with Petsch playing a straight-A student named Veronica who rejects college Casanova Caleb (Casalegno) but then has to stay in his home as she attempts to escape her past traumas. Then it’s time for things to get steamy.
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In 2024, Wattpad released its first independently financed film, Boot Camp. Also directed by Munro, it starred lesser-known names Drew Ray Tanner and Rachel Boudwin as a personal trainer and a teen girl trying to reinvent herself at a wellness camp. Wattpad’s biggest success is easily the After series, which the company did not independently produce. Based on the Wattpad–to–physical-book series by Anna Todd, the After films made $168 million in theaters between 2019 and 2023. These days, Wattpad is aiming to home-grow its success.
