Legendary has bought the movie rights to SenLinYu’s upcoming dark fantasy work, Alchemised. The author, who goes by they/them, began writing the novel as a Dramione story. In the Harry Potter fan fiction world, Dramione stories are the ones exploring a forbidden romance between Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy.
The seven-figure deal happened right before the release of the book, which is set to hit bookstores on September 23. According to a source, the studio paid an amount north of $3 million for the deal (via THR). Another source shared that it was a Hollywood record deal when it came to buying the movie rights to a book.
Legendary has bought the movie rights to SenLinYu’s ‘ALCHEMISED’, a novel that was originally Harry Potter fan-fic.
• The original fan-fic followed a forbidden love between Hermione and Draco Malfoy
• It is the biggest ever acquisition for a book’s movie rights at $3M… pic.twitter.com/73IMY4vEgk
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 10, 2025
Sen’s story saw the potential of going beyond just a Dramione story and turned into a dark romantic fantasy. In the final output, the protagonist is an alchemist and healer named Helena Marino. She exists in an alternate world full of necromancers and corrupt guild families, and she is sent to the estate of one of the necromancers. The preview on the cover of the book reads:
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.
It isn’t the first time that Hollywood has shown interest in a work that was previously just a fan fiction. E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey began as a fan fic of Twilight, before she switched it to an erotic drama. Both the books as well as their movie adaptations made massive business.
Legendary’s Record Acquisition Comes After Backing from Paramount
Legendary’s record $3 million deal for Alchemised comes after the studio inked a three-year deal with Paramount to distribute its movies. The first outing from this collaboration, Street Fighter, is set to hit theaters in October 2026. They previously had a deal with Sony that expired at the end of 2024.
The studio continues to collaborate with Warner Bros. on some IP projects, including this year’s hit film A Minecraft Movie. There are also other upcoming projects from this collaboration: Dune 3 in 2026 and Godzilla x Kong: Supernova in 2027.
Paramount has also become stronger with new owners, Skydance, taking over. These factors suggest that Alchemised has bagged a dream deal at Legendary. SenLinYu shared in a statement to 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
750,000 copies of a first printing of Alchemised will be released on September 23 by Del Rey, a division of Penguin Random House. It also comes translated into 21 languages.
SenLinYu’s Other Works in the Fan Fiction Space Besides Alchemised
SenLinYu has other works on the Dramione subset in Harry Potter fanfic, titled Manacled. The 2023 dark fantasy genre book drew more than 10 million views on AO3, a fanfic platform, and a 4.63 average rating on Goodreads. It had more than 100,000 five-star ratings on the platform.
SenLinYu grew up in a conservative Christian family in the Pacific Northwest. They studied classical liberal arts and culture. They shared on their website that they started writing fan fics on the Notes app on their phone during their baby’s nap time. They shared (via SenLinYuWrites):
I first started writing at the beginning of 2018 as something to do during my baby’s nap-time. I initially began writing just as a personal challenge, wanting to see if I even could write and finish a story. I was supposed to be done after a month, but I caught the writing bug and couldn’t stop.
They have also won awards for the Star Wars fanfic, where Ben Solo and Rey fall in love. Their works include:
| SenLinYu’s books | Goodreads rating |
| A Thing With[out] Feathers | 3.92 |
| Alchemised | 4.60 |
| All You Want | 3.90 |
| Do Not Go Gentle | 4.03 |
| Forever is Composed of News | 3.92 |
| Love & Other Misfortunes | 3.82 |
| Manacled | 4.63 |
| Marriage of Expedience | 3.93 |
| The Seduction | 3.93 |
According to THR, the author boasts of more than twenty million downloads of their online work. Their works are also available in 23 languages.
What do you think of Legendary’s acquisition of the movie rights to SenLinYu’s Alchemised? Let us know in the comments below!
