The first After movie trailer is released, teasing the big screen adaptation of Anna Todd’s same-named novel. After joins the very small group of films produced by Hollywood that are adapted from novels, the stories of which originally started off as fanfiction for popular franchises or personalities. This group also includes Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments - which many fans believe to be inspired by her Harry Potter fanfiction - that has been adapted into not only a movie but a TV show, Freeform’s Shadowhunters. However, the most infamous of this group is E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, which is well known to have started off as Twilight fanfiction. The Fifty Shades of Grey books have since become a worldwide phenomenon and the full trilogy was adapted to a film series, concluding earlier this year with Fifty Shades Freed.
For its part, After was originally published in 2013 by the then 24-year-old Todd on Wattpad, garnering millions of views. The saga of After started off as fanfiction written about One Direction member Harry Styles. Then in 2014, due to the story’s popularity, Todd signed a book deal with Simon and Schuster, turning After into an original tale about a young man named Hardin Scott. Todd’s After book series, which includes a total of five installments, follows the relationship of Hardin and Tessa Young. Now, the young lovers will get the big screen treatment in Aviron Pictures’ adaptation.
The first teaser trailer and poster for After have been revealed, both of which can be viewed below. The trailer introduces Josephine Langford (Wish Upon) as Tessa Young and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (Safe, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) as Hardin Scott, setting the stage for their tumultuous romance. According to the official logline for After, the movie follows Tessa, described as a “dedicated college student,” whose entire world changes when she meets the “dark and mysterious” bad boy Hardin. Watch the trailer for After and check out the teaser poster below.
Certainly, the After trailer seems to tease a movie in the same vein as Fifty Shades of Grey, one that follows a young woman exploring her sexuality as she starts a relationship with a “bad boy” type. But whereas Christian Grey was a dominant, wealthy businessman, Hardin Scott is a different kind of bad boy as a tattooed and tormented college student. Like the first Fifty Shades of Grey movie, too, After has a female director, with Jenny Gage (Lenny) taking the reins on the adaptation of Todd’s best-selling novel, from a script by Susan McMartin (Mom, Two and a Half Men).
That said, it remains to be seen if After will be as successful as Fifty Shades of Grey in terms of box office earnings. While the Fifty Shades movies were never hits with critics, they delivered film experiences that honored the beloved books - likely due to the involvement of James and her husband Niall Leonard, who directed the second and third movies. Of course, Todd’s After series has just as dedicated a following as James’ Fifty Shades, so it’s entirely possible the movie adaptation will score big at the box office. And, if After proves to win over critics, the film could do well with casual moviegoers as well.
Whether After is a success or not remains to be seen, but fans of the Todd’s book series will get to see the adaptation for themselves when the movie hits theaters in April 2019.
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Source: Aviron Pictures
