Jake Gyllenhaal is set to lead M. Night Shyamalan’s next feature film, a project tied to an upcoming romantic thriller novel by best-selling author Nicholas Sparks. Unlike a traditional adaptation, this film and book are being developed independently yet share the same core narrative, with Sparks writing the novel while Shyamalan crafts his own screenplay.
This marks Shyamalan’s second time drawing from literary material, following his adaptation of Paul Tremblay’s The Cabin at the End of the World into the 2023 psychological thriller Knock at the Cabin. However, given the nature of this dual development, it remains unclear whether the film should be classified as a true adaptation.
Shyamalan is producing the film alongside Ashwin Rajan under their Blinding Edge Pictures banner. Longtime Sparks collaborators Theresa Park and Marc Bienstock are also attached as producers, with Sparks himself serving as an executive producer.
Gyllenhaal’s Busy Slate and Shyamalan’s Next Chapter
No studio has officially signed on to distribute the film yet. Shyamalan’s last movie, Trap, was released by Warner Bros. in August 2024 and grossed $82 million worldwide. Before that, he maintained a long-running partnership with Universal Pictures.
Gyllenhaal, last seen in Amazon MGM’s Road House remake, which reportedly set streaming records for Prime Video, has been keeping busy. He also starred in Apple TV+’s legal drama Presumed Innocent and will soon appear in Guy Ritchie’s thriller In the Grey as well as The Bride!, a monster movie directed by his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Nicholas Sparks, whose novels have sold over 130 million copies worldwide, is no stranger to Hollywood adaptations. Past hits include The Notebook and Dear John, making this new collaboration with Shyamalan an intriguing departure from his usual genre.
News of this project was first reported by Jeff Sneider, and with both Gyllenhaal and Shyamalan involved, anticipation is already building for what promises to be a gripping and unconventional love story.
