Nicholas Sparks has had 11 — soon to be 12 — of his bestselling books adapted into feature films, but there was one movie in particular that he was most involved in.
“Certainly The Last Song,” Sparks, 59, told Us Weekly exclusively while promoting his new novel, Remain, out October 14. “I was a producer. I wrote the screenplay. I wrote the script. I wrote the novel… I was very involved in that all along, and certainly casting, pretty much all those decisions. What producers do for any film project.”
Based on his 2009 novel of the same name, The Last Song stars Miley Cyrus as a troubled teenager who reconnects with her estranged father (Greg Kinnear) and falls in love while spending the summer in a quiet beach town. The 2010 film also stars Liam Hemsworth as Cyrus’ love interest.
“[I] really wanted Miley to sing something, write an original song for The Last Song,” Sparks told Us of one of the most pivotal decisions he’s made while adapting one of his novels for the screen.
Nicholas Sparks and Miley Cyrus Sam Emerson/©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
“When I Look at You,” the original song Cyrus, 32, sings in the film, also appears on her first EP, The Time of Our Lives, and remains a fan-favorite.
As for the film he was least involved in, Sparks points to 1999’s Message in a Bottle, based on his book from the previous year.
“That was my first film made, and I had no confidence and nobody knew who I was, and it was Kevin Costner in the movie for goodness sake. And Denise di Novi, she produced everything from Batman to Edward Scissorhands,” Sparks said. “I’m like, there is nothing I can add to this potato pie. So we’re just going to let them do what they do.”
He took a similar approach for his latest collaboration, Remain. After conceptualizing the story with filmmaker M. Night Shymalan, Sparks will release the book next month, while Shymalan, 55, will release the film version next year.
“Night’s a pro. And I’ve had enough experience in this industry knowing that in the end, it’s usually the director’s film,” Sparks says of collaborating with the Sixth Sense filmmaker. “He’s writing it, he’s directing it, he’s producing it. I said, ‘Well, I’m not going to produce then.’ I’m not going to sit there and slow him down. He knows what he’s going to do anyway. If anything, all I would do is irritate him.”
He continued: “I’ll executive produce because he’s good at his job. So really, my point is that the project itself can influence how involved I’m going to be.”
Past film adaptations of his novels, which include A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Dear John and Safe Haven, have seen Sparks in a variety of roles, from producing to consulting.
But at the end of the day, whether he’s credited on paper or not, Sparks says, “I’m always involved.”
Remain is out October 14
