Legendary buys movie rights to Harry Potter fan-fic Alchemised featuring a forbidden love-story

The movie rights to Alchemised, an upcoming dark fantasy by author SenLinYu, have reportedly been acquired by Legendary over a jaw-dropping seven-figure deal. The book is slated to hit the stores on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, with a first printing of 750,000 copies. It will also be translated in 21 other languages. 

Alchemised reportedly began as a fan-fiction of Harry Potter, falling under the “Dramione” subset in particular. This group of creative works focuses on a reimagined romantic relationship between Hermione Granger, one of the protagonists in the universe created by JK Rowling, and Draco Malfoy, a conflicted character often initially associated with the dark side. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary made a preemptive offer to get ahead of any competition, which led to the deal going through.

Insiders reveal that the outright purchase of the rights has reportedly cost the company north of $3 million, making it one of the highest sums for a book’s movie rights, not accounting for inflation.

However, there has been no official statement regarding the terms of the deal. 

The big-budget purchase comes following Legendary’s recent three-year output deal with Paramount.

The latter company is also focusing on creating strong IPs, after it was bought by Skydance and tasted massive success with A Minecraft Movie.

All about Alchemised and writer SenLinYu

Psssst… Alchemised is releasing a week early. 🥳 pic.twitter.com/W9CGPkJDIU

— sen (@SenLinYuWrites) May 13, 2025

SenLinYu is a well-known figure in the world of Harry Potter fan-fiction, especially for their works on the “Dramione” sub-genre.

One of their most popular works is Manacled, a 2023 dark fantasy that brings together Harry Potter and Handmaid’s Tale.

It has over 10 million views on the fanfic platform AO3, with over 100,000 five-star ratings on Goodreads.

Alchemised reportedly began as yet another Dramione fan-fic, before becoming its own dark romantasy novel. The narrative is set in a world filled with necromancers and corrupt guild families, and follows alchemist and healer Helen Marino.

With her memories of the secrets she holds fading from her mind, Helen is sent to a necromancer for help. The blurb 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.”

Represented by WME and attorney Matthew Sugarman at Weintraub Tobin, SenLinYu told The Hollywood Reporter:

“I’m honored by Legendary’s incredible enthusiasm for the project and can’t wait to see the world of Paladia come to life.”

A student of the classical liberal arts raised in the Pacific Northwest, they started their writing journey on the Notes app of their phone.

They are also known for their Star Wars fan fiction, with their online works being downloaded by more than 20 million times and translated into 23 languages. 

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