Twisted Love TV Series: Netflix Acquires Rights to Ana Huang's Bestseller

In a significant move, Netflix has acquired the rights to Ana Huang's bestselling romance novel, "Twisted Love," and its sequels in a seven-figure deal, marking a strategic bet on the platform's influence and the power of BookTok in content discovery and adaptation.

The series, which includes "Twisted Games," "Twisted Hate," and "Twisted Lies," has gained massive popularity on TikTok's "BookTok" community, with over 2 billion views under the hashtag #twistedseries and 1 billion views under #anahuang. The debut novel spent 60 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and has sold over 12 million copies globally. The adaptation will follow the story of Ava Chen and Alex Volkov, whose relationship starts as a friendship but deepens into an intense, complicated romance, as they navigate their dark pasts and emotional complications.

The deal highlights shifts in content strategy and marketing, where built-in audiences reduce marketing costs and risk. Major media companies are consolidating their control over content spending, with the top six platforms estimated to have spent $126 billion in 2024, accounting for 50.6% of total content spend. Netflix's move is a strategic bet on the platform's influence and the power of BookTok, which has significantly impacted the publishing industry, driving a 50% increase in book sales among US TikTok users and a 66% sales surge among authors.

The adaptation of "Twisted Love" into a TV series is expected to attract fans of both book lovers and romance genre enthusiasts, aligning with Netflix's strategy to capitalize on the growing interest in romantic dramas, following the success of shows like "Bridgerton." If successful, the series may lead to adaptations of Huang's other novels, including those scheduled for publication in 2025.

Netflix's acquisition of "Twisted Love" series marks a significant milestone in the power of social media platforms in content discovery and adaptation, with BookTok driving a surge in book sales and influencing the publishing industry.