A Harry Potter fanfic nabs biggest book-to-movie deal of the year (and maybe ever)

According to THR, Legendary snapped up the adaptation rights to Alchemised and paid a hefty sum to stamp out the competition. Details of the deal are being kept under wraps, but sources for the outlet suggested it exceeded $3 million, making it the biggest book adaptation deal of the year—possibly the biggest book adaptation deal ever (“not accounting for inflation,” says THR). “I’m honored by Legendary’s incredible enthusiasm for the project and can’t wait to see the world of Paladia come to life,” SenLinYu said in a statement. 

Alchemised follows Helena Marino, a prisoner of the war between alchemists and necromancers. “According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit?” The synopsis reads. “To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost.”

The fanfiction-to-traditional publishing pipeline has always existed, to some degree. (Cue the “Dante’s Inferno was self-insert fanfic” debate.) But in recent years the practice has become more mainstream, or perhaps more inextricably linked to its source material. This year in particular has been dubbed “The Year of Dramione” with works such as Julie Soto’s Rose In Chains and Brigitte Knightley’s The Irresistible Urge To Fall For Your Enemy. For longtime Potter fans, the works are easily identifiable due to the cover designs’ resemblance to the characters from J.K. Rowling’s books. 

With the growing presence of these IP-adjacent novels, the fanfic-to-trad pub-to-film pipeline has also picked up steam. Such adaptations are no longer the oddball novelty of the 50 Shades Of Grey days; last year saw The Idea Of You, which arguably began life as a Harry Styles fanfic, and this year production began on The Love Hypothesis, adapted from a book that was adapted from a Star Wars fanfic. Alchemised may be the latest and the biggest, but it’s likely not the last.