Nicholas Sparks, the author of The Notebook and other best-selling romance novels, has announced that he has entered into an agreement with Universal Pictures to produce film adaptations of three of his novels, beginning with his 2021 novel The Wish. As part of the agreement with Universal Pictures, Sparks will produce all three films alongside Anonymous Content, the production company behind The Revenant (2015) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).
Nicholas Sparks first rose to fame with the release of his most well-known novel, The Notebook, in 1996. The Notebook was adapted into a 2004 movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Rachel McAdams in the leading roles as Noah and Allie Hamilton. Noah is described as a “poor, but passionate young man” who falls in love with Allie, a rich young woman, and gives her a short-lived taste of freedom. Noah and Allie are separated by their societal differences, only to receive a happy (but bittersweet) ending as elderly patients in the same hospital.
The Notebook is not Nicholas Sparks’s only famous novel and far from the only one to be adapted for the silver screen: his other adaptations include Message in a Bottle (1999) with Kevin Costner and Robin Wright, A Walk to Remember (2002) starring Mandy Moore and Shane West, and Dear John (2010) starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfriend along with eight others, for a total of eleven film adaptations and counting. According to Variety, Nicholas Sparks’s films have collected more than $750 million globally.
Nicholas Sparks Moving Forward with Universal Deal
In signing with Universal Pictures, Nicholas Sparks has agreed to produce three more film adaptations beginning with The Wish, which was originally published in September 2021. Sparks will be working alongside Anonymous Content CEO Dawn Olmstead and CCO David Levine, along with Sparks’s literary agent Theresa Park and Universal Pictures executive Lexi Barta. Regarding the deal, Universal Pictures President Peter Cramer told Deadline:
While the first installment of the agreed three-film deal has been confirmed to be The Wish, the other two films are currently unknown. There is not yet any further information on The Wish, including cast information and potential release dates.
