On November 7, Kapamilya stars Belle Mariano and Donny Pangilinan are the freshest on-screen pair featured in the upcoming iWant series adaptation of He’s Into Her.
He’s Into Her casts /ABS-CBN Star CinemaHe’s Into Her is a bestselling novel that initially gained its popularity in the online reading-writing platform, Wattpad. Written by Maxine “Jiji” Lat under the pseudonym Maxinejiji, this digital novel (as of writing) has over 210M reads and 5M votes since its first chapter of Season 1 released in 2012. Produced by ABS-CBN Films and directed by Chad Vidanes, the series will soon stream on iWant.He’s Into Her Seasons 1-3 /Wattpad
Nevertheless, this digital to print to screen adaptation is not the first in the industry. Wattpad, which launched back in 2006, has been a training ground for a lot of aspiring and amateur writers all over the world.
In the Philippines, a couple of these eBooks has successfully gained popularity beyond Wattpad and printed book enthusiasts because some of them became huge on big screens. For avid Wattpad readers, who followed these digital novels from chapter one to end, having to see their favorite characters coming to life is like a dream come true for them as well.
Not sure what films came from this online writing platform? Here are 5 box office hit adaptationswritten by Filipino Wattpad writers.
1 | Diary Ng Panget
Wattpad version published in 2012 (left), Film adaptation released in 2014 (right).Diary Ng Panget is one of the first Wattpad-to-Film-Adaptation that achieved success, not only for the people behind production but also to the then-first-time screen partners—Nadine Lustre and James Reid.
Initially published by Denny R. under her Wattpad alias HaveYouSeenThisGirL back in March 2011, it is a teen rom-com themed novel following the life story of Eya, who proclaims herself as ‘Panget’ or ugly.
The digital novel garnered more or less 25.9M reads with 207K votes for its 66 chapters written in English-Tagalog. After its printed book distribution, as well as the release of the movie adaptation in April 2014, the original and unedited version of the book has been taken down.
Despite the enthusiasm of the book’s fans, many have criticized it regarding the cliche plot and the cast having to lack of formula. Nevertheless, the film adaptation entered the 2014 top 10 list for grossing films, placing 9th with over P100 million.
2 | She’s Dating the Gangster
She’s Dating The Gangster Wattpad cover art (left) and theatrical poster (right).
This film adaptation is one of the most successful films of 2014, placing 4th with a total gross of over P250 million. Aside from its pre-existing online fans of the book, the casting of the country’s famous teen loveteam, Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, also made an impact on attracting viewers.
Athena Dizon plays a trick on campus heartthrob and bad boy, gangster, Kenji de los Reyes. Setting up an arrangement to pretend as lovers-to make his ex jealous-they found themselves falling for each other yet falling apart. (Boxofficemojo.com)
Aside from being popularized in Wattpad, this coming-of-age rom-com story was also published on CandyMag.com’s Teen Talk section. The author, Bianca Bernardino (pen name: SGwannaB), wrote the digital novel back in October 2011, which quickly gained thousands of readers. As of writing, its unedited (Jeje version as the author calls it), is still available on the platform with over 4.6M reads and 80.3 votes.
3 | The Best (Just the Way You Are)
‘The Bet’ book cover (left) and ‘Just The Way You Are’ theatrical poster (right)Just The Way You Areis based on the best-selling Pop Fiction book The Bet written by Kimberly Joy Villanueva (ilurvbooks). Since its first chapter release back in 2010, the digital novel now has over 48.2M reads and 451 votes.
Following almost the same storyline, Just The Way You Are follows how a popular guy makes a bet with his best friend to make a nerdy girl, who is a new student, fall for him within 30 days.
Directed by Theodore Boborol, this film adaptation stars one of the prominent tandems in the industry, Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, and a few more star-studded casts. Just The Way You Are earned an estimated gross of P100 million, weeks after its release in 2015.
4 | That One Summer (This Time)
This Time is based on the Wattpad novel That One Summer by Aly Almario (Alyloony), in collaboration with Cornetto Philippines, published in April 2015.
Approximately following the plotline of the book, ThisTime narrates the storyline of two childhood friends who only see each other every summer—portrayed by yet again the tandem of James Reid and Nadine Lustre.
On its opening day back in 2016, This Time garnered a total of P15 million. Viva Films, however, did not publicly release its official final gross. But according to Spikedaily, the film’s estimated gross is around P100 million.
5 | Ex with Benefits
Ex With Benefits, a classified rated-SPG Filipino erotic film adaptation, was based on Wattpad novel written by Ruth Mendoza (youramnesiagirl) back in 2012. As of writing, the Wattpad version has over 24.5M reads and 207K votes. Likewise, the digital book was converted to print media before its movie adaptation.
The adaptation was released three years after its public release, starring Derek Ramsay and Coleen Garcia to portray the lead roles, Adam and Arkisha, respectively. Under the Skylight Films and Star Cinema, Ex With Benefits gained an estimated domestic gross income of P145 million.
Meanwhile
On an international scope, Wattpad-to-film adaptation’s recent achievement was from Anna Todd’s ‘After’ series, which was nominated for and won The Drama Movie of 2019 in the People’s Choice Awards.
Todd initially wrote the series as a fanfiction for the One Direction singer Harry Styles back in 2013.
After gaining success in the platform with over 603M reads and 9.2M votes, Todd released a print edition of the series a year after under Gallery Books. In 2014, Paramount Pictures acquired film rights, but it took almost five years before the movie came out—starring Josephine Langford as Tessa and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin as Hardin.
Blayce helped launch WhatALife! Blog in late May 2019, publishing trendy lifestyle and entertainment articles, local and international news reports, as well as inspiring feature stories of successful individuals hailing from Cagayan de Oro City. A jack-of-all-trades, she is a part-time gamer, occasional guitar player, and a zombie-genre fanatic.
This Time is based on the Wattpad novel That One Summer by Aly Almario (Alyloony), in collaboration with Cornetto Philippines, published in April 2015.
Approximately following the plotline of the book, This Time narrates the storyline of two childhood friends who only see each other every summer—portrayed by yet again the tandem of James Reid and Nadine Lustre.
On its opening day back in 2016, This Time garnered a total of P15 million. Viva Films, however, did not publicly release its official final gross. But according to Spikedaily, the film’s estimated gross is around P100 million.
Ex With Benefits, a classified rated-SPG Filipino erotic film adaptation, was based on Wattpad novel written by Ruth Mendoza (youramnesiagirl) back in 2012. As of writing, the Wattpad version has over 24.5M reads and 207K votes. Likewise, the digital book was converted to print media before its movie adaptation.
The adaptation was released three years after its public release, starring Derek Ramsay and Coleen Garcia to portray the lead roles, Adam and Arkisha, respectively. Under the Skylight Films and Star Cinema, Ex With Benefits gained an estimated domestic gross income of P145 million.
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