Nicholas Sparks' 'The Longest Ride' to film in Wilmington
HUNTER INGRAM - Wilmington StarNews
Mar 26, 2014 at 12:01 AM Mar 26, 2014 at 4:04 PM
Nicholas Sparks will make yet another return trip to Wilmington as the film version of his latest book, "The Longest Ride," heads into pre-production.
The film is now accepting resumes from local crew members, according to a posting on the Wilmington Regional Film Commission website. And the project has opened production offices in a retail space off Shipyard Boulevard.
No casting information, production dates or possible locations are available, but it has been announced that George Tillman Jr. ("Faster") will direct and Craig Bolotin ("Black Rain") will pen the screenplay.
The film does already have a release date � April 3, 2015.
"The Longest Ride," which has only been on bookshelves since last September, was acquired by Fox 2000 last February just one week after Sparks' locally filmed "Safe Haven" adaptation hit theaters.
The romantic drama follows two love stories: one told through the flashbacks of a 90-year-old man looking back on his life and the love he lost, and the other about young student who falls in love with a wounded bull rider.
This will be the fourth film based on a Sparks book that has shot in the region. "A Walk to Remember" brought Shane West and Mandy Moore to town in 2001. In summer 2007, Diane Lane and Richard Gere filmed parts of "Nights in Rodanthe" at Wrightsville Beach and on the EUE/Screen Gems Studios lot. Five years later, in spring 2012, "Safe Haven," starring Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel, filmed in and around Southport.
"The Longest Ride" will be the 10th Sparks book to be adapted into a film. The ninth � "The Best of Me," starring James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan � is filming in Louisiana this spring and will hit theaters Oct. 17.
To submit a resume to "The Longest Ride" production, emailTheLongestRide2014@gmail.com or visit www.wilmingtonfilm.com.