Nicholas Sparks on working with M. Night Shyamalan for ‘Remain’ book, film

Nicholas Sparks is known for his romance novels, many of which have been adapted into feature films. The author has teamed up with director M. Night Shyamalan for a new supernatural love story, and he recently told Variety the collaboration was a long time coming.

“A long time ago, way back when The Notebook was being adapted for the screen, they approached a writer to write the script — it was M. Night Shyamalan,” Sparks said to the outlet. “He was busy writing this movie, The Sixth Sense. I don’t know if you’ve heard of that movie. I wonder how that eventually did?”

Now, Sparks and Shyamalan have created the new book Remain, which debuts in bookstores on Tuesday. A film adaptation directed by Shyamalan starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Phoebe Dynevor is also on the way.

The pair set out on their collaborative journey by pitching ideas that combined their respective genres: romance and sci-fi. Sparks wrote the novel based on an idea pitched by Shyamalan, and then Shyamalan wrote the film’s screenplay. Another concept, based on a pitch from Sparks, could be possible down the line, the author says.

“If this all works, and we’re in between projects we might do mine. It’s a good love story, little scary,” Sparks said.

As for spoiler-free teases of what fans can expect from Remain, Sparks opened up the possibility of the novel and the upcoming film adaptation not being exactly the same. 

“One of the questions I asked Night about is, ‘Do you want the ending to be the same? Do you want the twist to be the same?’” Sparks said. “And we made a decision about that. You’ve gotta read the book and see the movie.”