First, the Harry Styles fanfiction After was being optioned into a book by Simon & Schuster, and now it looks like the saucy story will be following 50 Shades of Grey's path to the big screen. Today (Oct. 17), it was announced that Paramount has acquired the film rights to Anna Todd's sexual One Direction-inspired story for a new movie.
According to Deadline, Paramount has optioned to turn After into a film through its Offspring Entertainment branch.
Offspring Entertainment is best known for the Step Up movie series but has also produced Rock of Ages, 17 Again and The Last Song.
Unlike Twilight fanfic-turned-novel-turned-movie 50 Shades of Grey, the Paramount deal with After seems to be separate from the upcoming book series. The first novel in the published After series will be released on Oct. 21. Further details surrounding the movie remain under wraps.
After is a highly successful One Direction fanfiction, first published on Wattpad. According to the story's Table of Contents, After's synopsis is as follows: "Tessa Young is an 18 year old college student with a simple life, excellent grades, and a sweet boyfriend. She always has things planned out ahead of time, until she meets a rude boy named Harry, with too many tattoos and piercings who shatters her plans."
That boy with "too many tattoos and piercings" is, of course, none other than 1D heartthrob Harry Styles. The other members of One Direction also make appearances in the 99-chapter story.
For the novel, Harry Styles' name will be changed to another H-name, and it's likely his name will be changed for the movie, as well.
After has been a massive success on fanfic site Wattpad. According to the site's numbers, After has been read over 260 million times. The story has also amassed over one million comments.
