After (2019 film)

In 2013, author Anna Todd posted the first chapters of a fanfiction titled After on fanfiction- and fiction-publishing website Wattpad.[3] The fanfiction's original storyline was loosely based on the boyband One Direction, and featured the band's members Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik, portrayed as students at Washington State University. The story followed Tessa Young, an "innocent good girl" who becomes involved in a relationship with "bad boy" Styles.

Within a month of publishing the first chapters, the story had acquired 544 million readers; Todd later landed a deal with Simon & Schuster to publish novelisations of the series, with the lead male character's name changed to Hardin Scott;[3] the novels were subsequently released in 2014. The books gained media attention and became New York Times bestsellers.[4]

In 2014, Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to adapt After for film;[5][6] before the expiry of the company's rights to the film production in mid-2017, the project was headed by screenwriter Susan McMartin. Following this, CalMaple Media and Offspring Entertainment acquired the filming rights, with writer Tamara Chestna hired to rework McMartin's script, and director Jenny Gage overseeing the script's final revisions.[7][8] McMartin, Chestna, and Gage all received final script credit. CalMaple Media's Mark Canton and Courtney Solomon, Offspring Entertainment's Jennifer Gibgot, Wattpad's Aron Levitz, Meadow Williams of Diamond Film Productions and Dennis Pelino were all credited as producers on the film, alongside Todd herself. The film was financed by CalMaple, Voltage Pictures and Diamond Film Productions, with executive production by Swen Temmel, Nicolas Charier, Jonathan Deckter, David Dinerstein, Jason Resnick, Scott Karol, Ian Brereton, Eric Lehrman, Adam Shankman, Brian Pitt and Vassal Benford. Aviron Pictures distributed the film domestically, with Voltage Pictures handling foreign distribution.[9]

On May 8, 2018, Julia Goldani Telles and Hero Fiennes Tiffin were cast in the main roles of Tessa Young and Hardin Scott respectively. The actors were selected by the production team, including Todd herself, who was present at the castings and contributed to the casting decisions.

In July 2018, Telles announced her exit from the film due to scheduling conflicts. In the same month, Josephine Langford was announced to play Tessa Young. Todd would later state that once she saw Langford, she "knew right away that was Tessa."[10][11] Pia Mia was cast in the role of Tristan, a previously male character in the books.[12] Executive producer Swen Temmel was cast as Jace,[10] Shane Paul McGhie and Khadijha Red Thunder were added as Landon Gibson and Steph Jones respectively,[13] Samuel Larsen was set as Zed Evans, and Inanna Sarkis played Molly Samuels. Producer Meadow Williams was additionally cast as Professor Soto, another previously male character in the books.[14] On July 27, Peter Gallagher and Jennifer Beals were announced to play Ken Scott and Karen Gibson, Hardin's father and Landon's mother, respectively,[15] with Selma Blair announced for Carol Young, Tessa's mother, and Dylan Arnold announced for Noah Porter on July 30.[16]

Principal photography was due to begin in June 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts.[17] In early July, producer Jennifer Gibgot stated that shooting would begin on July 16, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia shortly after Langford had been cast as Tessa.[18] Principal photography was mainly conducted at Emory University, and production was completed on August 24 of the same year.[19]

After grossed $12.1 million in the United States and Canada and $57.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $69.7 million against a production budget of $14 million.[2]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Hellboy, Little and Missing Link, and was projected to gross $3–12 million from 2,138 theaters in its opening weekend.[23] The film made $2.9 million on its first day, including $550,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $6 million, finishing eighth at the box office.[24] In its second weekend, the film dropped 58% to $2.5 million, finishing 11th.[25]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 19% based on 37 reviews, with an average rating of 3.58/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Tepid and tired, After's fun flourishes are let down by its generic story."[26] The film has a weighted average of 30 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on eight critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."[27] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars.[24]

Critics found the screenplay at fault, with Owen Gleiberman of Variety writing that After was an "innocuous teen pulp soap opera that flirts with 'danger' but, in fact, keeps surprising you with how mild and safe and predictable it turns out to be."[28] John Fink of The Film Stage echoed this sentiment, commenting that "the talented cast is burdened by a dead on arrival screenplay that waters down what could have been an intoxicating tale of first love," though he noted the film was "beautifully shot" and "occasionally aesthetically pleasing."[29]