"The Idea Of You" And 9 Actual Movies That People Think Have Roots In Fanfiction

I don't think I've given Wattpad enough credit.

In case you haven't heard, amidst the release of Anne Hathaway's new movie The Idea of You, there has been lots of talk around fanfiction — specifically, movies inspired by fanfiction.

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And honestly, even as a book lover, I was shocked to learn just how many popular films and franchises came to us thanks to fanfiction — so prepare to be surprised as well.

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Get ready for several Harry Styles and Twilight references.

1. The Idea of You (2024)

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This recent release starring Anne Hathaway is based on a 2017 book of the same title by author Robinne Lee. Although the author has technically debunked the One Direction inspo, the romantic male lead has traits so similar to Harry Styles that fans just can’t chalk it up as a coincidence — both are British boyband lead singers, both have dated older women, and both left their band to pursue solo careers. 

Whether or not it’s about Harry Styles, you best believe I’ll be keeping him in the back of my head whenever I watch this movie.

2. After (2019)

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The concept of a movie being based on Harry Styles isn’t so preposterous, because it’s been done before! After, a Netflix romance film, is notoriously based on One Direction, and Harry Styles particularly. It centers around an on-and-off relationship between a college student and essentially a punk version of Styles. (This got a bunch of traction from fans when it came out). 

After started as a book series that became popular on Wattpad, gaining over one billion reads (yes, billion). The series now has five books and can be read both on Wattpad and in paper editions.

3. Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

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Arguably one of the most successful movies that came from fanfiction is none other than Fifty Shades of Grey. Author E. L. James was inspired by Twilight author Stephanie Meyer, and particularly Edward and Bella’s relationship. 

After reading Twilight, James started posting her books to fanfiction website Fanfiction.net (although she ended up having to remove parts for being too explicit). Although the settings for these stories are different, it’s easy to spot the similarities between the characters for people who know both stories.

4. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)

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This one is also not confirmed, but fans are pretty sure author Cassandra Clare based her Mortal Instruments series on a story she wrote called The Draco Trilogy, which is Harry Potter fanfiction. Fun fact: Clare posted The Draco Trilogy on the same website as E. L. James: Fanfiction.net. 

So, essentially, The Mortal Instruments movies are based on the book series of the same name, which are based on fanfiction written by the same author. Some have even gone as far as to call The Mortal Instruments “plagiarism” because of this.

5. Red, White & Royal Blue (2023)

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This beloved romance book, which was turned into a movie that came out in 2023, is speculated to be based on fanfiction written by the same author. Similar to The Mortal Instruments situation, it’s rumoured that author Casey McQuinston initially posted fanfiction about actors Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield, which was then the inspiration for Red, White & Royal Blue. You might recognize Nicholas Galitzine, who plays Prince Henry, from The Idea of You.

The fanfiction in question was a love story about Eisenberg and Garfield on the set of The Social Network (a “royal alternate universe” or “royal AU,” as fans call it). It’s not confirmed, but boy, would this make sense!

6. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

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I know what you’re thinking: duh, this was obviously inspired by Pride and Prejudice. But maybe you didn’t know that this movie was actually based on a book of the same name. The book came out in 2009 and combines two unlikely narratives: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and thriller story elements (like zombies, of course). The movie came out in 2016 and stars Lily James.

7. Wicked (2024)

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OK, so although people don’t typically think about fanfiction when they hear Wicked, this movie actually counts as being based on fanfiction as well (depending on how you define fanfiction, but hey, let’s not be restrictive here). 

The Wicked musical is based on the 1995 book, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire — and this book, of course, takes characters and stories from the original L Frank Baum story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. So, I don’t know about you, but that’s fanfiction to me. This movie hasn’t hit the theatres quite yet, but you best believe I’ll be there when it does.

8. The Love Hypothesis

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Although it’s only in the early stages of production, The Love Hypothesis, a smash-hit romance novel by Ali Hazelwood, is being adapted into a movie by Bisous Pictures. What many don’t know, however, is that hard-core fans believe the author based this work on a Star Wars fanfiction she wrote. 

The fanfiction is an alternate universe story about Rey and Kylo Ren with virtually the same plot as The Love Hypothesis. Even though this one hasn’t been confirmed yet, I’m sure we’ll get more information about Hazelwood’s inspiration once the movie gets going.

9. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

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Even if you’re not a Star Trek fan, you might be interested to learn that this 1984 movie was inspired by fanfiction (yes, fanfiction still existed before the Internet!).

What sparked inspiration for this movie was actually a fan poem, written in first-person from the perspective of Captain Kirk, a main character from the Star Trek franchise. The poem was published in a magazine, and it gave producer Harre Bennett the initial spark to produce the third Star Trek movie.

10. Gabriel’s Inferno (2020-2022)

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Last but not least, the 2020-2022 movie adaptations of the book series Gabriel’s Inferno was confirmed to be based on Twilight fanfiction (yes, another from Twilight — are you surprised?). 

The initial fanfiction reimagined Bella and Edward as a student and professor, and the story was aptly titled The University of Edward Masen under pen name Sebastien Robichaud. The author, whose real name is Sylvain Reynard, then turned this fanfiction into a book trilogy called Gabriel’s Inferno.

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