Warner Bros. announced yesterday that they purchased rights to The Best of Me, the next novel from prolific author Nicholas Sparks.
According to Deadline, Sparks pitched his novel to Warner Bros. executives sharing with them his tale of two small-town sweethearts who go separate ways only to reunite back in their hometown years later while attending a funeral.
Sparks also signed on to produce the movie along with Denise DiNovi and his literary agent Theresa Park.
DiNovi also produced the Sparks adaptations A Walk to Remember and Message in a Bottle.
Earlier this week, Relativity Media announced that veteran filmmaker Lasse Hallström would direct its adaptation of the popular Sparks novel Safe Haven.
Dana Stevens wrote the screenplay for Safe Haven, about a young woman escaping her past and falling for a widowed father in a small North Carolina town. Temple Hill Entertainment's Marty Bowe and Wyck Godfrey came aboard to produce along with Ryan Kavanaugh of Relativity Media and Sparks.
Grand Central plans to release The Best of Me Oct. 11 in book stores and online.