Netflix Buys Rights To Romantic Book Series That Sounds Even Wilder Than Bridgerton In Massive Seven-Figure Deal

Netflixhas landed the rights to a popular romance novel series, planning to turn the wild premise into a television series. The genre is a reliable hit for the streamer, with Bridgerton often getting the biggest headlines because it generates the highest numbers. However, relatively quieter series such as Virgin River and Sweet Magnolias are consistent performers with a loyal audience.

Virgin River is confirmed to return for season 7 and Sweet Magnolias season 4 will be back in February. Both shows are lighter and more grounded, avoiding getting too dark and generally remaining on the optimistic side of the ledger. That won't be the case with the latest romantic saga that Netflix is hoping to adapt.

Netflix Plans To Adapt Twisted Love

The Novels Are Written By Ana Huang

Ana Huang's Twisted Love novels are being adapted into a television series. The high-stakes premise centers on Alex Volkov. Described as having the face of an angel, and noted for his ruthlessness, Volkov is out for vengeance. Things take a turn, however, when he's forced to look after his best friend's sister. He starts to gain feelings for the girl, Ava Chen, but their forbidden romance is complicated by Volkov's quest to avenge a murder.

Varietyreports that Netflix has landed the rights to Ana Huang's Twisted Love novels to make a TV adaptation. The deal, which includes the first novel and its sequels, is worth seven figures. If the project moves forward, it would also be adapting the follow-up novels Twisted Games, Twisted Hate, and Twisted Lies.

According to the logline shared by Variety, the adaptation may be attempting to expand its focus beyond the core relationship between Alex and Ava. It is described as a “steamy new adult series”, following the lives of four best friends as they fall in love and attempt to overcome dark secrets from their past. But it is early in the developmental process. No cast is attached and Netflix has declined to comment on the deal.

First released in 2021, the Twisted Love novels have sold more than 12 million copies and proved especially popular on BookTok. The first book in the series spent 60 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, selling translation rights to 34 countries. And on TikTok, where BookTok has created its own community, views for #twistedseries and #anahuang have each reached over 1 billion.

Romance Often Means Big Success For Netflix

Most Romance Dramas Go The Distance

Bridgerton is Netflix's biggest romance series and one of its biggest shows overall. The most recent installment, Bridgerton season 3, is among the streamer's most-watched shows of all time at #6. It has a total of 113 million views and more than 846 million hours of viewership. The show's first season fares even better on the same list, coming in at #4 and generating more than one billion hours of viewership.

Netflix's metrics can be confusing and difficult to quantify, particularly what they classify as a view. But even accounting for that caveat, shows like Bridgerton tend to dominate more straightforward streaming metrics, such as Nielsen's weekly streaming charts. Nielsen only tracks minutes viewed, limited to only smart TVs within the U.S., and even with those restrictions, Bridgerton, Virgin River, and Sweet Magnolias have all accrued billions of minutes viewed.

In the case of the miniseries One Day, the genre has helped Netflix garner awards attention as well. The decades-spanning love story, starring Ambika Mod and Leo Wooddall, has been in the conversation for Emmys and the Golden Globes. It's little surprise, overall, that the executives at the streamer would look to adapt a book series with plenty of buzz. The darker tone is a bit of a notable shift, though.

Our Take On The Twisted Love Acquisition

It's A Switch-Up For Netflix

The news about Twisted Lovecements Netflix's reliance on romantic dramas. If the series makes it all the way to debuting in front of audiences, it will represent a bit of a heavier departure from what the streamer usually offers with its slate of originals. It sounds closer to something like Hulu's Tell Me Lies, which also enjoyed notable audience growth as it has been renewed for season 3. On the whole, it seems, love stories of all sorts are alive and well in streaming.

Source: Variety