It's been a while since Warners bought the rights to Nicholas Sparks' novel **The Lucky One, but with one of his other titles, Dear John, about to launch in cinemas, the film adaptation is finally moving a little more quickly towards screens, with The Boys Are Back director Scott Hicks the leading contender for the job.
Yes, clearly in the pocket of Big Tissue, looking to generate mammoth sales of Kleenex* and their tear-soaking ilk, the studio is planning to make some final decisions soon according to The LA Times.
The Lucky One follows a Marine on duty in Iraq who finds a photo of a mysterious woman. He tucks the pic in his pocket for good luck and when he eventually seeks out the lady in question, he's not treated like a scary stalker, but instead uncovers some secrets.
Will Fetters wrote the latest draft of the script, which is said to be getting the project's guiding executives (including Denise Di Novi) ready to lock in a director and start casting, with James Franco's name mentioned already.
Sparks has become somewhat of a cash fountain for Hollywood, with the likes of Message In A Bottle, The Notebook and **A Walk To Remember **all earning decent box office returns. With two other Sparks-based films - Dear John and the Miley Cyrus-starring The Last Song - set to hit this year, the flood of money and sniffles doesn't look likely to end anytime soon.
*Other tissue brands are available.