PSA.
From the NY Times:
It may be one of this summer’s most popular movies, but “The Kissing Booth” is not playing at a theater near you. Netflix released the teen rom-com on its streaming service with little fanfare in May, and it quickly swelled into a stealth sensation.
“Fans found it, liked it, and decided to pass it on to other people,” said Vince Marcello, the film’s writer and director. “You can run commercials, you can do all the conventional stuff, but none of it is as powerful as people on their Twitter feeds saying, ‘Oh my God, check this out, it gave me all the feels.’”
Netflix specializes in the soft sell, expecting viewers to stumble across its original films while scrolling through menus of suggestions. “We weren’t aggressively marketing the film,” said Ian Bricke, the service’s director of independent film. “But when people find a movie like this on Netflix, they feel like they’ve discovered it for themselves, and there’s a degree of ownership and investment that translates into word of mouth.”
This user-generated strategy seems fitting given the D.I.Y. origins of “The Kissing Booth.” In 2011, Beth Reekles, a 15-year-old in Wales, started posting chapters of the story on Wattpad, an online platform that allows amateur writers to read and comment on one another’s work.
“It was easier to share it with total strangers online than people I knew,” Ms. Reekles, now 23, said in an email. “I was — and still am — quite self-conscious about my writing.”
From Teen Vogue:
Audiences have fallen in love with The Kissing Booth, the Beth Reekles's Wattpad short story turned YA novel and most recently adapted into a wildly-popular Netflix Original starring Joey King, Joel Courtney, and Jacob Elordi. It's become one of the most buzzed-about high school romantic comedies of the year since its release in May.
Haven’t watched The Kissing Booth yet? Somehow managed to avoid spoilers online? Here’s a quick synopsis. Originally published on Wattpad by Beth when she was only 15 years old, the story follows Elle Evans (Joey) and her best friend Lee (Joel) as they navigate their junior year in high school. Elle shares everything with Lee: cheeseburgers, a passion for Dance Dance Revolution, a lifetime of childhood memories, and plenty of embarrassing moments. But there’s one secret she can’t tell him: she’s in love with his motorcycle-riding, leather-jacket-wearing older brother, Noah (Jacob).
Don’t get us wrong, the movie isn’t perfect. We’re taking serious issue with the ambiguous ending, in which Noah flies off to college without so much as a backward glance. (Okay, yes, Elle specifically asked him not to turn around for a final wave goodbye, but still!). The point is: plenty of fans have been asking if they'll be getting a Kissing Booth sequel. We’re emotionally invested in these characters, and we’re dying to spend more time with them.
From The Washington Post:
The popularity of the “Twilight” saga set off a trend in teen fiction. By 2011, the only books 15-year-old Beth Reekles heard her peers discussing involved vampires, werewolves and other mystical beasts.
She’d had enough.
“I wanted to read regular high school romance, without the paranormal stuff,” says the Welsh writer, now 23. Nothing Reekles could find spoke to her, so she wrote her own book called “The Kissing Booth” and uploaded chapters to Wattpad, an online platform for amateur writers to share their work. It soon became one of the most popular titles on the website, amassing more than 19 million reads.
“The Kissing Booth” leaped from Wattpad to Random House Children’s U.K. to the Netflix Originals library over the next seven years — a miraculous feat for any self-published novel, much less a teenager’s passion project. It’s also a surprisingly successful get for the streaming platform. Just last month, Netflix’s programming chief, Ted Sarandos, called the May release “one of the most-watched movies in the country, and maybe in the world.”
From Pop Buzz:
Right now we are in the process of campaigning for a sequel or maybe even a TV series to accompany the movie but, while we wait to see if that happens, it's probably worth noting that the incredible The Kissing Booth cast all have projects for us to look forward to in the mean time. Joey King (Elle) is about to play one of the leads in Slender Man, Jacob Elordi is going to star in The Mortuary Collectionand now Joel Courtney is about to give us life in Replicate.
Joel Courtney. Picture: Netflix // Screen
As it stands, not too much is known about Replicate but from what we can tell it is going to be nothing short of amazing. It's a sci-fi thriller that tells the story of three friends making a web-series about their town together. So far so normal. However, in the process, they find out that citizens of the town are being murdered and exchanged with creatures who are exact 'replicates' of them. Terrifying.
Joel will play Zach, one of the lead characters in the new feature film, alongside Andi Matichak (Halloween) as Kayla and Calum Worthy (American Vandal) as Randy. Not to mention, the one and only Cam Gigandet (Twilight, The OC, Burlesque) will also star in the film as Josh Haywood. Not too much is known about any of their characters as it stands, but we cannot wait to find out what they're like.
In spite of his young age, Joel has been acting professionally since 2011. The 22 year old got his big break as a movie star with Elle Fanning in the critically acclaimed Steven Spielberg directed horror film Super 8. Since then he has also had major roles in films like Mercy,Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn and F The Prom. Nevertheless, it was this year with The Kissing Booth that he rose to mainstream attention.
Considering how talented he is, we are super excited to see his performance in Replicate. Currently the film has no official release date but it is expected to drop later this year. We will update you as soon as we know when it's coming out and an official trailer is made available.
We cannot wait to see it and find out what else Joel acts in next.
Here's an excellent article at the Los Angeles Times.
Courtney, left, Elordi and King try out a motorcycle racing game at Dave & Busters. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“A movie like this, I expected it to have a solid fan base but a really niche demographic,” said Courtney. “It’s been so much bigger than I could have ever hoped for. People love it so much and watch it on repeat. I can’t tell you how many comments I’ve seen on pictures saying ‘I’ve watched your movie seven times.’”
Joel Courtney, 22, had his first major role in 2011's "Super 8." (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Courtney, left, Elordi and King play Dance Dance Revolution — a favorite game of the characters in "The Kissing Booth." (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)