Nicholas Sparks Productions Shuts Down
Benjamin Walker, left, and Teresa Palmer in ‘The Choice’ from Nicholas Sparks Productions (Photo: Dana Hawley/Lionsgate via AP)
By Rebecca Ford, The Hollywood Reporter
Nicholas Sparks Productions, the film and TV production company founded by the romance author, is closing.
The company, which was based on the Warner Bros. lot, launched in 2012 with a two-year, first-look deal with Warner Horizon Television to create TV series. Sparks’ company also produced 2013’s Safe Haven and, as its first indie production, the adaptation of Sparks’ book The Choice, which Lionsgate released in February 2016.
Related: ‘The Choice’: Film Review
Nicholas Sparks Productions and Warner Bros. TV had also teamed up in August 2015 to develop a TV series based on Sparks’ book The Notebook. Todd Graff was hired to pen the script and executive produce alongside Sparks and Theresa Park. In March, the CW announced that it would redevelop the series for 2017. Sparks and Park will stay on as executive producers.
Eleven of Sparks’ romance novels have been adapted into films. Message in a Bottle, released in 1999, was the top earner, raking in $118.9 million worldwide, followed by the hit The Notebook, which took in $115.6 million, and 2010’s Dear John, which earned $115 million worldwide.
Related: 'The Notebook’ TV Series in the Works at The CW
But in the past few years, the adaptations have not been seeing the same success. 2015’s The Longest Ride earned just $62.9 million worldwide and The Choice has earned a muted $18.7 million.
Sparks, who has published 18 novels and two non-fiction books throughout his career, is focusing on writing a new novel. His next book, Two by Two, comes out in October.
‘The Choice’: Watch the trailer:
