EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired worldwide rights to adapt Flor M. Salvador’s popular young adult Wattpad book series Boulevard with Webtoon Productions. A first film, Boulevard, is currently in production in Spain from a script by bestselling YA author Javier Ruescas (see below for the start of production announcement).
The book series centers on the forbidden romance between high school students Halsey Weigel and Luke Howland. A troublemaker who also struggles from addiction, Halsey knows she should stay away from Luke, but she is inexplicably drawn to him, seeing beyond the damaged exterior everyone else is quick to judge. She wants to rescue a self-proclaimed misfit, and he wants to resist. Does their love stand a chance?
The first three books in the romance series – Boulevard, Después de El and Antes de Ella – have generated over 140 million reads on Wattpad, with a fourth, Eterno, to come.
Comments Shebnem Askin, EVP, Creative Production & Head of Sony Pictures International Productions, “The Boulevard book series has captivated readers around the world with its compelling characters and powerful storytelling from the incredibly talented Flor M. Salvador. We are thrilled for the chance to work with everyone at Webtoon Productions and are excited for fans and new audiences around the world to experience this literary phenomenon on the big screen.”
Adds David Madden, President of Webtoon Productions, ”Since its debut on Wattpad, the Boulevard saga has been a sensation with readers around the world. Sony instantly recognized the unique opportunity to bring this complex love story to the big screen, and we’re honored to work together with such a renowned studio on what we know will be an incredible adaptation.”
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial first published Boulevard and Después de El in 2022 in Mexico, selling over 189,000 copies in the region alone. In 2022, Boulevard was the best-selling book in the young adult fiction category and in 2023, the first two volumes and the illustrated hardcover edition reached the Top 10 in young adult fiction.
