The romantic stories penned by Nicholas Sparks have popularly found their way to the big screen.
Several of Sparks’ books have been turned into blockbuster movies, watched again and again by fans, and welcoming new audiences years after their original release.
Many of Sparks’ stories have somber scenes, often causing watchers and readers to shed a tear.
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Sparks’ books that have been turned into films have starred a variety of actors, including Kevin Costner, Mandy Moore and Amanda Seyfried.
Below are a handful of Sparks’ books that have been turned into movies.
“The Notebook” is one of the most popular books by Sparks that has been turned into a film.
The book was published in 1996, with the movie coming out in 2004. The love story in this movie and book is between Noah Calhoun, played by Ryan Gosling, and Allie Hamilton, played by Rachel McAdams.
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In the present day of this movie and book, Gosling’s character reads a love story from a notebook to a fellow nursing home patient.
Throughout the film, time is swapped between the elderly characters in the present day and flashbacks to the past.
As the story is read by Noah to the elderly female patient, she starts to realize it is becoming more familiar to her, and it hits closer to home than she thought.
“The Notebook” is packed with unforgettable scenes, such as the one with Noah and Allie getting caught in the rain while out on the boat, as well as classic lines like “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird.”
If you like a story with Western flare, “The Longest Ride” is worth a watch and a read.
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This movie was released in 2015 and is based on the 2013 book by Sparks.
“The Longest Ride” is about a bull rider named Luke Collins (Scott Eastwood) who meets an art student in college named Sophia Danko (Britt Robertson) at a bull riding event.
On their way home from their first date, they save an elderly man named Ira who was in a car crash. On his person are letters that he wrote to his late wife, Ruth, during their relationship.
Sophia grows a connection to Ira, as he reads her the letters that tell his love story.
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As the love story of Sophia and Luke unfolds, flashbacks of Ira and Ruth’s love story are intertwined, with lots of similarities between the two.
The “Dear John” movie came out in 2010 starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as John Tyree and Savannah Curtis.
This film is based on the 2006 novel by Sparks.
“Dear John” shares the story of a yearslong relationship between John and Savannah.
John, a solider, and Savannah, a college student, meet during spring break.
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After growing feelings for each other, John is deployed and their relationship is limited to penning letters back and forth.
In an interview about the story, Sparks shared that the meeting of John and Savannah is inspired slightly by how he met his now ex-wife.
“I met my wife on spring break when I was in college…I bumped into her in Florida and told her the next day that I was going to marry her and 20 years later here we are,” he told Collider.
“The Last Song” is yet another one of Sparks’ emotional stories. The book came out in 2009, and the next year, a movie was released.
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This movie stars Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth as the main characters.
In the film, troubled teen Ronnie Miller (Cyrus) and her loving younger brother Jonah (Bobby Coleman) are sent to spend the summer with their father in a small beach town.
At first reluctant to spend the summer in the beach town, Ronnie slowly begins to grow a fondness for Will Blakelee (Hemsworth) and also becomes closer to her father (Greg Kinnear) through their mutual love of music.
As the summer progresses, Ronnie and her brother receive news that completely changes their family.
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The set of this movie is where Cyrus and Hemsworth met and began a real life relationship.
They confirmed their romance soon after the movie finished filming but broke up in August 2010, per People.
An on again, off again relationship went on from here, with the pair getting back together at the end of 2010, to breaking up a few months later.
In May 2012, they got engaged, but ended up breaking things off before walking down the aisle.
They got back together and engaged again in January 2016 and got married in December 2018.
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Their relationship ended in divorce, with the couple going their separate ways in August 2019.
“A Walk to Remember,” the movie, came out in 2002, based on the 1999 book by Sparks.
This movie stars a young Mandy Moore at the start of her acting career. During the filming of “A Walk to Remember,” Moore was 16 years old, turning 17 during shooting, according to People.
“A Walk to Remember” tells the unexpected love story of high schoolers Landon Carter (Shane West) and Jamie Sullivan (Moore).
As his love for Jamie deepens, Landon learns a tragic truth about the girl he loves.
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The story is inspired by Sparks’ own sister, Danielle Sparks Lewis, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor, per People, and passed away in June 2000.
The movie was filmed in North Carolina, and borrowed multiple sets from the popular show, “Dawson’s Creek,” according to E! Online.
Moore and West have remained close friends to this day. In 2019, West made a speech during Moore’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony.
Moore went on to play other emotional roles in her career, including the TV series, “This Is Us.”
“Message in a Bottle” was the very first book of Sparks’ to be turned into a film.
The book came out in 1998 and the movie was released in 1999.
“Message in a Bottle” stars Kevin Costner and Robin Wright. Costner and Wright were both established actors by the time this movie was released, with Wright having been in “Forrest Gump” and Costner winning an Oscar for directing “Dances with the Wolves” in 1991. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the film. “Dances with the Wolves” won the Oscar for best picture that year.
In the story, a woman finds a mysterious love letter on the beach and grows deep curiosity into finding who wrote the note.
