Sometimes, being a living author whose books are in demand to be turned into movies is a good thing.
Take Stardust, for which original author Neil Gaiman did extensive promoting in his blog because due to his producer credit he got to be involved in some decision-making. Sometimes, it can turn into a travesty—like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (but then again, I am starting to feel as if any writing project of Alan Moore’s is instantly doomed to failure on the big screen because he really is a warlock).
Nicholas Sparks is one of those living authors whose books have been made into movies with a variety of success, starting with 1999’s Message in a Bottle (which grossed $118 million worldwide on a budget of $80 million) and culminating in The Notebook, which grossed $115 million worldwide on a budget of $29 million).
Sparks’ next film adapation was going to be Dear John, starring Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum as the main pair of lovers, and when I read the Wikipedia entry on the novel, I thought there was nothing I could ever read that would ever trip my Overwrought Drama™ sensors even more…until I read the recent news about his other film adapation.
According to Variety, Academy Award nominee Greg Kinnear (As Good as It Gets) and Razzie winner Kelly Preston (Battlefield Earth) have been cast as Miley Cyrus’ parents in The Last Song, a movie whose plot sounds like a very special episode of Cyrus’ “Hannah Montana”:
Kinnear and Preston will play the parents of Cyrus’ character, a rebellious teen sent to spend the summer with her estranged father. He tries to reconnect with her through the one thing they have in common: music.
Under the hands of freshman feature director Julie Anne Robinson (most known as a TV episode director for “Grey’s Anatomy” and the U.K.’s “Holby City”), the movie is being produced by Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot for Touchstone Pictures, and already there are set pictures online of a stream-drenched Cyrus kissing her on-screen love interest Liam Hemsworth.
I’ll admit that I never understood the “Montana” phenomenon, but I did make the effort on behalf of my niece who is 5 years old and loves the show. And I’ll also admit that in a way I get it, because when I was a kid, I was hooked on “Kids Incorporated” because I hoped that one day I, too, could be in a band that played in an aging Hollywood theater.
And when it comes to making your feature film debut that’s not a concert, you can’t go wrong with a best-selling novelist like Sparks creating a role just for you in a book that’s not even out yet:
Sparks is penning the script based on his own book, which he wrote specifically to turn into a star vehicle for the “Hannah Montana” star. Book will be published this fall.
The movie is set to be released on January 8, 2010.
Nas says:
What scares me is that someone wrote a book specifically so Billy Ray Cyrus’ daughter could star in a movie version of it. I know books have been marketing tools for a while now, but that just sounds… stranger than fiction.
Jhens Acne Treatment Care says:
the kids at home loves Hanna Montana. I also watched this show from time to time and Miley Cyrus is really fit for this role.
Lung detox info says:
Miley Cyrus of the TV Series Hanna Montana is really curte and funny. she is really talented in the sense that she can act and sing as well.