Nicholas Sparks is not just a familiar name on bookshelves, he has also made his mark in the film industry with more than half of his novels becoming high-grossing box office films in the last two decades and with top Hollywood actors and directors bringing his characters to life on the screen. Let us take a look at some of the best movies adapted from Nicholas Sparks’ novels.
Message in a Bottle (1999)
‘Message in a Bottle‘ is the first film adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks’ book. The book version, also titled ‘Message in a Bottle,’ was published in April 1998, and the movie adaptation premiered in February 1999. It is a melodramatic film starring Kevin Costner, Robin Wright, John Sauvage, and Paul Newman with Luis Mandock as director and was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
The plot of this 131-minute drama centers on the characters Theresa Osborne and Gareth Blake. Theresa Osborne is a researcher and former reporter for the Chicago Tribune. On a trip to Cape Cod, she finds an intriguing love letter in a bottle trapped in the sand. Fascinated by the letter, she shows it to her colleagues, who print the letter in the newspaper without her permission. Members of the public begin to send numerous responses to the letter after its publication. Among the responses to the letter, they find another letter similar in style to the one found in the bottle, and Theresa and her colleagues trace the letter and discover that the writer is Gareth Blake.
Theresa travels in search of Gareth to find out more about the letter but hides her intent from Gareth when she meets him. Gareth is a widower who loved his wife deeply, and the letter in the bottle was addressed to his late wife, Catherine. Theresa and Gareth get attracted to each other and begin a relationship. Later, Gareth visits Theresa, but they fight and break up after he discovers her role in the publication of the letter to his wife.
Gareth tries to move on with his life and settles some issues he had with his late wife’s family. One day, he writes another letter to Catherine, seals it in a bottle, and sails with it in his boat. But a storm hits while he is at sea, and he drowns while trying to rescue a family stranded in the storm.
Theresa is devastated at the news of Gareth’s death. While visiting Gareth’s father, he gives her the letter in a bottle retrieved from Gareth’s boat. Theresa reads the letter and discovers that Gareth was writing to Catherine to tell her that he has found love again in Theresa. Theresa, while grieving, expresses gratitude for the love she shared with Gareth.
‘Message in a Bottle‘ was produced on a $30 million budget and grossed an impressive sum of almost $119 million at the box office.
The Notebook (2004)
‘The Notebook‘ is the most critically acclaimed film adaptation in Nicholas Sparks’ array. The book was published in October 1996, while the film adaptation was released in May 2004. The screenplay was written by Jan Sardi and Jeremy Leven and directed by Nick Cassavetes. The cast features Rachael McAdams and Ryan Gosling as the young Allie and Noah, respectively. James Garner plays the old Noah, while Gena Rowlands plays the old Allie.
This film adaptation changes some details of the book version. For instance, Noah writes Allie letters for the duration of about a decade in the book, but in the film, Noah writes Allie letters on a daily basis for a period of one year. The character Lon Hammond is a lawyer in the book version, while he is a captain of the army in the film adaptation.
The film won many awards, including eight Teen Choice Awards, a Satelite Award, and an MTV Movie Award. It was distributed by New Line Cinema and grossed about $115 million on a $29 million budget. The movie is currently available for streaming on Netflix.
Nights in Rodanthe (2008)
‘Nights in Rodanthe‘ is a film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ 2002 novel of the same title. The film was released in 2008 by Warner Bros Pictures with Denise Di Novi as producer, George C. Wolfe as director, and screenplay by Ann Peacock and John Romano. It grossed $84 million worldwide on a production budget of $30 million.
It stars Richard Gere as Paul and Diane Lane as Adrienne. Paul and Adrienne go to an inn in Rodanthe, North Carolina, to escape their troubled individual lives. In their few days together, they share an intense, passionate romance. When they part ways to face their separate lives, they continue to stay in touch through letter writing. However, one day, Adrienne is visited by Paul’s son with news of Paul’s death. Paul had died in a mudslide while trying to save medical supplies. Adrienne is left to grieve his death and treasure their memories together.
Dear John (2010)
‘Dear John‘ is a 2010 romantic drama film based on Nicholas Sparks’ 2006 novel of the same title. Its screenplay was written by Jamie Linden and directed by Lasse Hallström. It stars Channing Tatum as the character John Tyree and Amanda Seyfried as Savannah Curtis.
John Tyree is a sergeant in the United States Army Special Forces in Afghanistan. When he got shot in a battle in Afghanistan, he recorded a voice-over where he stated that the last thing that flashed across his mind is ‘you.’ Then the story is taken back to two years before the shooting.
John meets Savannah in Charleston, South Carolina, and the two feel a connection and soon fall in love. As John departs to rejoin the army, they promise to write letters to each other all the time. However, the physical distance and other challenges test their relationship, and Savannah eventually sends John a ‘Dear John’ letter breaking up with him. But after moving on with their individual lives for so many years, they eventually reconnect at a chance meeting in a coffee shop.
Despite a lot of poor ratings by critics, ‘Dear John’ grossed a decent sum of $115 million on a $25 million budget.
The Longest Ride (2015)
‘The Longest Ride‘ is a romance film based on Nicholas Sparks’ 2013 book with the same title. The film, which premiered in April 2015, was directed by George Tillman Jr with a cast featuring Britt Robertson, Scott Eastwood, Jack Huston, Oona Chaplin, and Alan Alda. The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox, with Nicholas Sparks as one of its producers. It was produced on a budget of $34 million and grossed about $64 million at the box office.
In the film, Sophia Danko is an art student at Wake Forest University; she meets professional bull rider Luke Collins at a bull riding event. It is love at first sight, and Luke begins to court her thereafter. On their way back from their first date, Sophia and Luke spot a car crash in the woods and rescue the victim. Sophia also retrieves a box full of letters from the victim’s car.
Sophia visits the man they rescued at the hospital. They begin to chat, and Sophia learns that the man is a 91-year-old man named Ira Levinson. They talk about the letters in the box, and Ira tells Sophia that those letters were letters he wrote to his late wife, Ruth, in their youth. Sophia begins to read the letters to Ira, and a series of flashbacks depict Ira and Ruth’s love story in the 1940s.
As Sophia builds a friendship with Ira and learns of his beautiful love story with his wife in the past, she must confront some challenges in her relationship with Luke in the present.
Luke accompanies Sophia to an art event and learns that he has no interest in art, an addition to their many differences. Also, Sophia tries to persuade Luke to quit his professional bull riding career because of the high risk of a fatal accident. Unable to settle their differences, Sophia and Luke break up. But when Luke wins a bull riding championship, he realizes that it means nothing to him without Sophia by his side. He seeks Sophia out, and they reconcile.
After a while, Sophia and Luke are contacted by Ira’s attorney, who informs them of Ira’s death and requests that they attend the auction of Ira’s art collection. At the auction, Sophia buys a painting called ‘Portrait of Ruth’ and inadvertently wins Ira’s entire art collection worth millions of dollars, and they later open a museum in honor of Ira and Ruth.
The movie ends with Luke and Sophia now married and visiting landmarks that were significant to Ira and Ruth Levinson.
FAQs
What are Nicholas Sparks’ movies in order of release?
The complete list of Nicholas Sparks movies in chronological order is: ‘Message in a Bottle’ (1999), ‘A Walk to Remember’ (2002), ‘The Notebook‘ (2004), ‘Nights in Rodanthe‘ (2008), ‘Dear John‘ (2010), ‘The Last Song‘ (2010), ‘The Lucky One‘ (2012), ‘Safe Haven‘ (2013), ‘The Best of Me’ (2014), ‘The Longest Ride’ (2015), and ‘The Choice‘ (2016).
In total, there are eleven (11) film adaptations of Nicholas Sparks’ books.
Where can one watch Nicholas Sparks movies?
Nicholas Sparks movies can be found on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. Most of his movies are available for streaming on streaming platforms in the United States and in other parts of the world.
Who turned down the role of Allie in ‘The Notebook‘?
Jessica Simpson claims she was offered the role of the character Allie in ‘The Notebook‘ but rejected it because of the sex scene in the film. Simpson made this claim in her memoir titled ‘Open Book,’ where she also mentioned her long-time crush on Ryan Gosling, who was cast as Noah, as another reason for her rejection.
