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Tag: nicholas-sparks

Jake Gyllenhaal to Star in M. Night Shyamalan’s Next Movie
(Left) Jake Gyllenhaal stars in ‘Roadhouse.’ Photo: Laura Radford © Amazon Content Services LLC. (Right) Director M. Night Shyamalan on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures’ crime drama thriller ‘Trap,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Sabrina Lantos. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Preview:
- Jake Gyllenhaal is reportedly to star in M. Night Shyamalan’s new movie.
- It’s a romantic supernatural thriller.
- Nicholas Sparks co-created the story and will write a book based on it.
The last time M. Night Shyamalan brought us a movie, he delivered last year’s ‘Trap,’ in which Josh Hartnett played a father escorting his daughter to a pop star’s concert, only to discover that the event is one giant snare designed to catch him –– as he’s also a serial killer whose latest victim is chained up in his basement.

Now the writer/director is back, and for his next trick, he’s got another big name actor looking to sign on. Jake Gyllenhaal, most recently seen in the ‘Road House’ remake, will take the lead role in the movie.

The news comes from reporter Jeff Sneider and has since been confirmed by the likes of Deadline.

But perhaps more intriguing than the Gyllenhaal casting –– after all, Shyamalan has worked with the likes of Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson to name just a few in the past –– is word that the filmmaker concocted the story alongside Nicholas Sparks. Yes, the best-selling author.

Related Article: Director M. Night Shyamalan Talks ‘Trap’ and Working with Josh Hartnett

What’s the story of the new Shyamalan movie?

Director M. Night Shyamalan talks ‘Trap,’ which opens in theaters on August 2nd.

That’s one element we don’t know yet, at least beyond the basic supernatural romance angle.

More fascinating is the detail that Shyamalan and Sparks both intend to use the story they came up with together. While Shyamalan works on his movie, Sparks will be writing a novel based on the basic plot.

Both projects will share the same concept and set of characters, but will be tailored to their respective mediums.

So will we see Gyllenhaal as a widower who discovers that… twist alert! His wife is not as deceased as he thought? Well, the twist here is that we really don’t know.

Shyamalan is, as usual, keeping this close on his latest effort.

Has Nicholas Sparks been connected with movies before?

(L to R) Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in ‘The Notebook.’ Photo: New Line Cinema.

Saying Sparks has movie links is like saying Apple TV+ has series starting with the letter “S.”

He has published twenty-three novels, all New York Times bestsellers, and two works of nonfiction, with over 115 million copies sold worldwide in more than 50 languages.

11 of Sparks’ books have been turned into films, four of which he produced, including ‘The Choice,’ ‘The Longest Ride,’ ‘The Best of Me,’ and ‘Safe Haven.’

His other adaptations include ‘The Lucky One,’ ‘Message in a Bottle,’ ‘A Walk to Remember,’ ‘Nights in Rodanthe,’ ‘Dear John,’ ‘The Last Song,’ and ‘The Notebook.’
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Films based on his novels have grossed more than $889 million worldwide, with more in development. He also worked as screenwriter on ‘The Last Song.’

Sparks’ latest book, ‘Counting Miracles,’ was released this past fall and debuted top of the New York Times bestsellers list. And you’ll be shocked to learn it’s in the process of being adapted into a film by Amazon.

This agreement with Shyamalan feels more unique –– and it’ll be interesting to see how the movie differs from the book. We’d guess the film might lean more closely into genre trappings.

What else does Jake Gyllenhaal have coming up?

Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.

Despite some early controversy about its straight-to-streaming distribution, Amazon’s ‘Road House’ was a massive hit for the studio breaking streaming records, with a sequel already in development.

Gyllenhaal next showed up in the critically acclaimed limited series ‘Presumed Innocent’ for Apple TV+, and that earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

This year he will share the stage starting next month with Denzel Washington in an adaptation of ‘Othello’ on Broadway.

Movie-wise, he’ll next be seen in Guy Ritchie’s action drama ‘In the Grey,’ which also stars Henry Cavill, Eiza Gonzalez and Rosamund Pike.

He also has ‘Frankenstein’ adaptation ‘The Bride!,’ directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley, Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro and Penélope Cruz. That film is scheduled for release on September 26th.

When will Shyamalan’s new movie head to theaters?

The film doesn’t yet have a studio home, though ‘Trap’ distributors Warner Bros. are already in talks to handle it, so we doubt it’ll take long for that to lock in.

Director M. Night Shyamalan (center) on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures’ crime drama thriller ‘Trap,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Sabrina Lantos. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

List of M. Night Shyamalan Movies and TV Shows:
- ‘Praying with Anger‘ (1992)
- ‘Wide Awake‘ (1998)
- ‘The Sixth Sense‘ (1999)
- ‘Unbreakable‘ (2000)
- ‘Signs‘ (2002)
- ‘The Village‘ (2004)
- ‘Lady in the Water‘ (2006)
- ‘The Happening‘ (2008)
- ‘The Last Airbender‘ (2010)
- ‘After Earth‘ (2013)
- ‘The Visit‘ (2015)
- ‘Wayward Pines‘ (2015 – 2016)
- ‘Split‘ (2016)
- ‘Glass‘ (2019)
- ‘Servant‘ (2019 – 2023)
- ‘Old‘ (2021)
- ‘Knock at the Cabin‘ (2023)
- ‘Trap‘ (2024)
Buy M. Night Shyamalan Movies on Amazon
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January 31, 2025
Box Office: Why Moviegoers Are Tired of Zombies and Nicholas Sparks

Sure, it’s hard to guess which movies will be big enough draws to pull people away from their living rooms on Super Bowl weekend. But the studios were wrong about nearly every new offering this weekend, and so were the box office analysts.

The only new release that performed as expected was the Coen Brothers‘ period Hollywood spoof “Hail, Caesar!“, debuting in second place with an estimated $11.4 million. That’s pretty weak, even for filmmakers as cultish as the Coens. Yet it was still far better than this weekend’s other new wide releases, “The Choice” and “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” — both of which opened well below expectations. It’s enough to make you wonder if moviegoers have lost interest in both Nicholas Sparks and zombies.
Sparks, the novelist whose tearjerking romances have been adapted into such hits as “The Notebook,” used to be one of Hollywood’s most reliable brands, generating 11 movies over the past 17 years. His “Dear John” opened on Super Bowl weekend six years ago with $30.5 million and became his second biggest hit. So maybe it wasn’t a big stretch to think “The Choice” would be smart “chick-flick” counterprogramming to this weekend’s testosterone fest.

But Sparks’ movies have been on a downward trend in recent years. 2014’s “The Best of Me” and 2015’s “The Longest Ride” were his lowest openers and lowest overall grossers — until now. “Choice” premiered in fifth place with $6.1 million. Blame poor reviews and a lack of star power to attract audiences.
As for “Zombies,” there was enough precedent behind it for pundits to place it on top of their predictions for the weekend, guessing it would take in at least $12 million. Seth Grahame-Smith’s Jane Austen spoof had been a bestseller in 2009. Star Lily James‘ “Cinderella” was a female-audience hit around this time last year. The romantic comedy/zombie tale “Warm Bodies” did well on Super Bowl weekend three years ago, opening with $20.4 million toward an eventual $117.0 million worldwide gross. And women like both horror movies and Jane Austen.
So, why did “Pride” fail to crack the top five, debuting with just an estimated $5.2 million, less than half of what experts predicted? Audiences didn’t think much of it, giving it an underwhelming B- CinemaScore. And critics didn’t think much of it either, with its 41 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. James isn’t really a box office draw; the success of “Cinderella” owes less to the “Downton Abbey” alumna than to Disney’s brand and marketing. Period horror also hasn’t been as big a draw lately as studios had hoped — (cough) “Crimson Peak.”

Another factor worth noting is that competition from holdovers remained strong. “Kung Fu Panda 3” held the top spot ($21 million) and “The Revenant” topped $150 million in domestic earnings with a third place finish of $7.1 million. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” in fourth place with an estimated $6.9 million, became the first movie to earn more than $900 million in North America and the third to earn more than $2 billion worldwide. All three of these holdovers saw modest declines of less than 50 percent from the previous weekend. All three also have strong guy appeal (though in the case of “Panda,” the guys may be dads dragged to the cartoon by their kids).
Which brings us to the other factor: maybe the idea of female-oriented counterprogramming on Super Bowl weekend is outdated. Aside from “Dear John,” “Warm Bodies,” and 2008’s “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best Of Both Worlds Concert Tour” (still the best Super Bowl weekend debut ever, at $31.1 million), there’s not an extensive history of women-targeted films performing well opposite the Super Bowl.

Maybe more women enjoy football than Hollywood conventional wisdom believes. Even if not, it’s almost never a good idea to open two films at once that are chasing the same audience. Given a choice between “The Choice” and “Zombies,” it shouldn’t be surprising that many women would choose the Broncos and Panthers instead.
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February 7, 2016
Teresa Palmer Facts: 9 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About ‘The Choice’ Star

%Slideshow-361713% Teresa Palmer‘s acting career started a little over 10 years ago, but she’s about to become a household name thanks to her role in the latest Nicholas Sparks flick “The Choice.” From befriending kangaroos to how she got her start in Hollywood, she is one interesting lady.

Before you catch the movie, here are nine things you might not have known about the actress.
[Source: IMDB]

February 4, 2016
Quiz: Is This Nicholas Sparks Plot Real or Fake?

Nicholas Sparks‘s movies and books are beloved, sure, but they are also pretty ridiculous. How many plot lines can end in a dead parent, fatal illness, or dramatic kiss in the rain?

Despite all that, we’ll never stop watching them (and probably crying while we do).

Think you’re an expert on all things Sparks? Take our quiz and prove that you know your stuff.

February 3, 2016
‘The Notebook’ May Become a CW Series

It was previously adapted into a cult classic film starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling; could “The Notebook” blossom as a television series, too?

That’s what The CW will try to find out, with Entertainment Weekly reporting that the network is currently developing a show based around the Nicholas Sparks romance novel. According to EW, the “Notebook” series will draw inspiration from both the 1996 book and the 2004 movie, and Sparks himself will serve as an executive producer on the project.

Here’s the official synopsis for the show, per EW:

This series will follow the romantic journey of the two beloved central characters Noah and Allie, at the outset of their blossoming relationship as they build their lives and their future together against the backdrop of the racial politics, economic inequities, and social mores of post-World War II of the late 1940s in North Carolina.

While EW sounds a bit skeptical about a “Notebook” series’s place on the superhero- and rom-com-heavy network’s slate, this project actually seems like the perfect match for The CW. After all, it’s a network that’s catered to young women throughout its existence (“Hart of Dixie” and “Jane the Virgin” come to mind), and has a current hit with “Reign,” another female-centric show which is also in the historical period drama vein that “The Notebook” will tap.

Stay tuned to see if this show makes it off the ground.

[via: Entertainment Weekly]

Photo credit: friskytuna/Flickr

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August 11, 2015
‘The Longest Ride’: How Author Nicholas Sparks Got an Agent

Nicholas Sparks

“The Longest Ride” author Nicholas Sparks talks about how he got his first agent and how long it takes him to write scenes.

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July 31, 2015
Is ‘The Longest Ride’ the End of Nicholas Sparks’s Box Office Ride?

You’d have thought that opening “The Longest Ride” opposite the still-strong “Furious 7” would have been a smart counterprogramming move. With all that testosterone on display in the latest installment of the car-chase franchise, surely some female moviegoers would feel underserved and turn to the new Nicholas Sparks movie, that they’d flock to the kind of cathartic tearjerker that is the “Notebook” author’s bread and butter.

As it turned out, not so much. “Longest Ride” opened in third place with an estimated $13.5 million, below even the modest expectations for the film (about $14 to $16 million). That’s better than the even weaker opening of last October’s Sparks entry “The Best of Me” (which premiered with just $10.0 million and topped out at $26.8 million) but well below the $22.5 million debut of 2012’s Sparks saga “The Lucky One.”

Does the relative weakness of these recent spark-free Sparks movies mean that the Sparks vogue, which has spanned 10 movies over 16 years, is over?

Maybe not, but there are some lessons in “Longest Ride”‘s failure that future Sparks adaptations would be wise to study.

1. Don’t open opposite a “Fast & Furious” movie.
If there’s any action franchise that’s going to compete with a Sparks movie for female viewers, it’s this one. With the gals as badass as the guys in these movies, they have strong appeal to women. Studio polling last week, when “Furious 7” opened, showed an almost even gender split among ticketbuyers. And even though the film fell nearly 60 percent from last weekend’s debut, that’s still an estimated $60.6 million this weekend, more than four times what “Ride” sold out of the gate.

2. Don’t open opposite a strong family film.
That would include a movie like “Home,” which, even in its third week, still pulled an estimated $19.0 million, good for second place. “Ride” may have been targeting women over 25, but many of those are moms who were taking their kids to see the cute cartoon aliens.

3. In fact, counterprogramming isn’t a sure thing anymore.
We saw that last month, in reverse, when a number of macho action movies (“Chappie,” “Run All Night,” “The Gunman”) tried to open against a much stronger slate of female-driven movies (“Cinderella,” “The Divergent Series: Insurgent,” and the lingering “Fifty Shades of Grey.”) None of them grossed above $31 million total in North America. Even indie sequel “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” grossed higher than any of the action sausage fests. These days, when a current movie or a current kind of movie is going strong at the box office, it seems to suck all the oxygen out of the multiplex and leave little room for anything different.

4. Make a better movie.
Nicholas Sparks movies typically get terrible reviews, and “Ride” is no different. That hasn’t stopped most of them from becoming hits, but if you’re going after older audiences, as “Ride” seems to be (given the prominence of Alan Alda’s oldtimer in the film’s plot), then reviews matter. Yes, the film got terrific word-of-mouth (measured by its A grade at CinemaScore), but word-of-mouth doesn’t help much if not many people who might recommend the movie are drawn to see it in the first place.

5. Casting matters.
Alan Alda is a beloved Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actor, but he’s not a box office draw. Britt Robertson is a fine young actress, but she has no movie track record, and her best-known TV role is probably on CBS’s cult summer drama “Under the Dome.” Scott Eastwood has a famous last name (and some resemblance to papa Clint) but a sparse résumé so far. It used to be that a cast with as little box office appeal as that of “Longest Ride” wouldn’t hurt a Sparks movie, since the novelist was the real star and the movie’s biggest draw. But as lessons 1 through 4 make clear, Sparks’s name alone isn’t enough to sell tickets any more. He needs whatever help he can get.
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April 13, 2015
How Well Do You Really Know ‘The Notebook’?

April 7, 2015
10 Reasons to Love Nicholas Sparks Movie Adaptations

Romance novelist Nicholas Sparks is at it again. Hollywood is set to release another film adaptation of one of his novels, “The Longest Ride,” in April. This comes just six months after the release of “The Best of Me,” another movie based on his work. If you’re not a fan of Nicholas Sparks yet, then we’re going to give you 10 reasons to become one and fall in love with his adaptations.

1. He wrote “The Notebook.”
Does anything else really need to be said? He wrote one of the greatest love stories of all time. I think that’s a good enough reason to love his adaptations. If that’s not convincing, then keep reading.

2. Sparks immerses you in the story.
He always makes the audience feel so involved in the story that it’s almost as if you’re friends with the characters. While watching the films, you might catch yourself yelling at the screen, encouraging characters to follow their heart — or just let it go. You also just automatically feel like you’re a part of the world he has created.

3. The films always have the best looking cast.
Channing Tatum, Mandy Moore, Liam Hemsworth, Amanda Seyfried, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams — the list goes on and on. Of course, it’s not what matters on the outside but rather how well they can tell the story. But having a little eye candy to look at during a film never hurt anyone!

4. The adaptations are for all ages.
All of his film adaptations are based on love; love at first sight, young love, old love, or regretful love. Whether viewers are 16 or 60, many people have dealt with love and even heartbreak, so the films are easy to relate to.

5. His love stories are reality.
On his website, Sparks wrote, “tragedy is part of everyone’s life.” He was referring to love as being tragic sometimes and he explained that without tragedy, there is no great love. He realizes that not every love story ends like a fairy tale and, because of that, the adaptations show nothing but the truth.

6. Each film takes you on an emotional journey.
At one point you’re laughing, the next you’re crying, and twenty minutes later, you’re laughing and crying at the same time. You truly are taken on an adventure with the characters Sparks has created.

7. He reminds you that falling in love is okay.
Even though it doesn’t always end like a fairy tale, Sparks’s stories still show how falling in love can be an amazing adventure. He reminds the audience that sometimes you have to take that leap of faith in order to find something amazing on the other side.

8. You always learn something from the films.
All of the films have at least one lesson to take away. It could be to not wait when it comes to love because you never know what’s going to happen. Or it could be the lesson of choosing to let the love of your life go because you think it’s the right thing to do.

9. He’s a professional.
Sparks has written more than 15 novels and 11 of them have been adapted into films. He is also in the process of writing two more novels. Just by the numbers, it seems like he would qualify as a pro.

10. He never disappoints.
Sparks is so original with all of his love stories. Sometimes the couple ends up together and other times, they don’t, but it doesn’t matter because his plot lines are so good. He brings you into the characters’ world and takes you on a journey that will make you want to find that special someone and fall in love.

Vanessa Gomez is a student at the University of Southern California and a contributor to Moviefone’s Campus Beat. Are you a current college student with a love for all things movies and TV? Contribute to Campus Beat!
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April 1, 2015