You might think that Marvel are the masters of building movie franchises, but Nicholas Sparks’ romance novels and the industry around them is a rival in terms of output. The latest film to be adapted from one of his stories is The Choice, and Ross Katz has been hired to direct it.
Katz, who recently made his second film (this year’s comedy drama Adult Beginners, following Kevin Bacon-starring TV movie Taking Chance), will put aside the various other projects he has in development to focus on the latest output from the Sparks production line.
The Choice hit shelves in April 2009 and focuses on Travis Parker, a man who would appear to be living the perfect live. He has a good job, great friends and the ideal living situation in a beautiful waterfront North Carolina home. Where women are concerned, he’s quite content to be the love-‘em-and-leave-‘em type until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Though there's initially more frustration than romance between them – and she already has a long-term boyfriend – they’re destined for one another, at least until an alien invasion occurs and insectoid marauders begin setting fire to half of the nearby town. Admittedly, we may have made some of that up…
Katz is set to start the cameras cranking shortly, working from Brian Sipe’s screenplay. This will be the 11th Sparks tome turned into a film, with The Best Of Me set to arrive here on October 17 and The Longest Ride recently finished shooting ready for an April 10 release next. We may have to update our Nicholas Sparks flowchart.