Nicholas Sparks Movies, Ranked

Ranking Nicholas Sparks Movies

Ever since the mid-to-late ‘90s, romance novelist Nicholas Sparks has reached the top spot on The New York Times bestseller list with each and every novel, 23 in total. With that level of success – over 115 million books sold – you can’t blame Hollywood for wanting to adapt a few of his novels into movies. 

Nicholas Sparks, as many authors have discovered, having his written work turned into a film is not an easy proposition. We are here to rank each and every one of his movie adaptations.

11. The Choice (2016)

The Choice is the latest of the Nicholas Sparks movies and ranks as the worst of the bunch. This formulaic romantic drama tells the story of two North Carolina neighbors who fall in love upon their first meeting. Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer star as Travis Shaw and Gabby Holland, neighbors who must first contend with each other’s respective significant other before they can deal with their own relationship.

They eventually do, marry and have kids, but in typical Nicholas Sparks form, tragedy takes the form of a horrific car accident that puts Gabby in a coma. Nicholas is now presented with the tough decision, pull Gabby from life support or wait to see if she will wake. 

10. The Best of Me (2014)

The Best of Me is a Nicholas Sparks movie that alternates from the present to the past as it explores a high school relationship and how it went wrong. James Marsden is Dawson Cole with Luke Bracey playing the teenage Luke. Michelle Monaghan plays Amanda Collier-Reynolds with Liana Liberato as the younger Amanda. It takes a tragedy – the death of Dawson’s father – to bring Dawson and Amanda back together as adults. Their reconnection turns into flashbacks that show how their teen love fell apart.

Once again Nicholas Sparks was a producer on the movie that was directed by Michael Hoffman and written by the duo Will Fetters and J. Mills Goodloe.

9. Safe Haven (2013)

This Nicholas Sparks movie paired up the red-hot Julianne Hough with Josh Duhamel in Safe Haven, a story about a young woman on the run from an abusive and alcoholic police detective husband. Hough is Erin/Katie, the young woman who fears for her life and finds herself seeking the safe haven of Southport, North Carolina. There, she meets Alex Wheatley (Duhamel), a widowed father of two. 

While the story was engaging enough, it was a plot twist (that was also present in Sparks’ novel) that soured critics and non-Sparks readers. Safe Haven was the first film that Sparks was a producer. 

8. The Last Song (2010)

With as successful a novelist as Nicholas Sparks was and still is, it isn’t a surprise that he’d give it a try with writing a screenplay for one of his movies. He did this with the 2010 film, The Last Song. This Nicholas Sparks movie brought together Miley Cyrus, and her future husband, Liam Hemsworth.

The Last Song tells the story of outcast and rebellious Ronnie Miller (Cyrus) who is sent to Georgia for the summer to spend time with her estranged father. There she meets and falls for Will Blakelee (Hemsworth). It’s not going to be an easy relationship for the two as Ronnie’s turbulent past rears its ugly head as Ronnie also tries to forge a relationship with her father (Greg Kinnear), who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

7. The Lucky One (2012)

In the Nicholas Sparks movie, The Lucky One, Zac Efron stars as Logan Thibault, a United States Marine serving in Iraq. After surviving a brutal ambush, Logan finds a picture of a young lady, whom his fellow soldiers dub his “guardian angel.” When Logan finally returns to the US, he begins his search for this young lady. 

This was Will Fetters’ first time turning Nicholas Sparks’ novel into a film as the movie’s screenwriter. Scott Hicks directed the film.

6. Nights in Rodanthe (2008)

The Nicholas Sparks movie, Nights in Rodanthe, became the third film collaboration between stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane. In this story, Lane is Adrienne Willis, a mother of two on the verge of a divorce. Her need to get away takes her to a bed-and-breakfast where she meets Dr. Paul Flanner (Gere). Together they work to protect the B&B from a coastal storm and in doing so, begin to fall for each other.

5. Dear John (2010)

Dear John is a Nicholas Sparks movie that speaks about how timing is key in relationships. Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried star in this romantic drama about Special Forces Staff Sergeant John Tyree (Tatum) who, while home on leave, falls for Savannah Curtis (Seyfried). Timing for them, though, is not on their side as John has to return to duty.

They continue to keep their relationship alive through letters and plan to take things to the next level when John is discharged from his military duties. Right before this is to happen, 9/11 strikes. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. Four years later, John does come home, but Savannah has moved on.

4. Message in a Bottle (1999)

This Nicholas Sparks movie tells of great love and even greater loss. Robin Wright is Theresa Osborne who, on a trip to Cape Cod, finds a mysterious love letter in a bottle on the beach. Using her talents as a researcher for the Chicago Tribune, she is able to track down who wrote the letter. When she does, she finds Garrett Blake (Kevin Costner), a man who lost his wife Catherine and who the letter was intended for.

Theresa and Garrett begin their own relationship until Theresa realizes she is battling the memory of Catherine.

3. A Walk to Remember (2002)

A Walk to Remember is one of Nicholas Sparks’ movies whose setting was changed more than any of the other film adaptations. In the novel, the setting was the 1950s, while in the Adam Shankman-directed film, scribe Karen Janszen made the setting current, bringing it into the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The film stars Shane West and Mandy Moore as a young teenage couple whose eventual love is doomed from the start. Landon Carter (West) is nothing but a troublemaker in high school. Jamie Sullivan (Moore) is a quiet high schooler who catches the eye of Landon. When they first meet and start hanging out, it is under one condition – Jamie tells Landon not to fall in love with her. Eventually, Landon discovers why. Jamie has leukemia, and her treatment is not working.

2. The Longest Ride (2015)

Scott Eastwood, son of screen legend Clint Eastwood, stars as professional bull rider (PBR) Luke Collins, who meets his true love Sophia Danko (Britt Robertson) the night of a PBR event. As they are coming home from their first date, they spot a crash on the side of the road and help rescue the old man inside. The story then goes from the past to the present, telling a love story between the old man and his wife in the past, and the present love story between Luke and Sophia.

1. The Notebook (2004)

The Notebook is the most successful of the Nicholas Sparks movies at the box office and stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in this Nick Cassavetes-directed love story. It is a true tearjerker that goes back in time to tell the story of young lovers, Noah Calhoun (Gosling) and Allie Hamilton (McAdams), who first meet at a carnival in 1940.

Although the two fall for each other, Allie’s parents are not thrilled. When Noah is called to duty in World War II, he promises Allie he will write to her daily. These letters go unanswered as Allie’s mother continues to steal them. Life, though, has a funny way of righting wrongs.