Despite fluctuating box office returns, the romantic factory farm that is Nicholas Sparks novel adaptations shows no sign of shutting down any time soon. Gambit**’s director Michael Hoffman was attached to The Best Of Me last year, and he’s now locked in a female lead in the shape of Michelle Monaghan{
She’ll star as one half of a couple of former high school sweethearts who reunite under less than perfect circumstances. They return to their small North Carolina town for the funeral of a mutual friend, and discover that their passions still run deep. But can their rekindled love survive the fact that the freshly buried corpse has come back to life and is chomping on townsf… Gah! That last bit is sadly just our idea to sprinkle in something different, and one we fear that writers Mills Goodloe and Will Fetters have entirely ignored despite our sending copious letters in our best green crayon.
Warner Bros. originally bought this one before Sparks had even finished it, but since then Safe Haven producers Relativity have swooped in to take it over.
As for Monaghan, She’s got several indie movies coming up including** Fort Bliss**, Better Living Through Chemistry and A Many Splintered Thing. She’ll also be seen opposite Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in HBO’s new crime drama True Detective.