Harlequin publisher signs the adaptation of 40 Duanju series with DashReels

Harlequin, one of the world's largest romance publishers and a subsidiary of HarperCollins, will adapt 40 of its stories into duanju series as part of an agreement signed with Dashverse. The productions will be broadcast on DashReels, a platform specializing in vertical mobile series.

The partnership envisions animated adaptations from the Harlequin catalog, built over decades around popular romance. The publisher boasts a massive library of titles already familiar to an international audience, with characters, worlds, and narrative conventions easily adaptable to the short-form mobile format. The stories will be divided into short, vertical episodes, following the model popularized by DramaBox, ReelShort, and ShortMax.

Dashverse, for its part, is leveraging Frameo, its AI-powered production tool, to accelerate episode production and content distribution. The agreement directly connects a major intellectual property holder with a specialized vertical distribution platform.

The industrial appeal of the partnership lies primarily in Harlequin's scale. The company has been publishing romance novels worldwide for over 75 years and already possesses a catalog structured for serialization. The duanju model allows existing novels to be transformed into ongoing mobile content without starting from scratch in terms of editorial development.

The convergence between traditional publishing and vertical drama platforms is becoming increasingly visible. Catalogue owners are now seeking formats capable of quickly producing high-volume mobile adaptations.

Sources:

• Harlequin – March 30, 2026

• Publishers Weekly – March 30, 2026

• C21Media – March 31, 2026