The Notebook has got to be one of the best movies of the 2000s. With the fiery chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, as well as the heart-wrenching story of star-crossed love, you can’t go wrong. However, there was one horror director who was approached to adapt the period romance flick, and I couldn’t believe who it was.
Nick Cassavetes, who previously directed movies like Blow and John Q., took on the Nicholas Sparks adaptation of The Notebook. But before the American director was approached, the best-selling author spoke on Good Morning America about who else was offered to direct. This answer has about the same level of twist as what’s seen in this horror director’s movies:
Years ago, back in the ’90s, when they were doing the script for The Notebook, one of the writers they approached to adapt The Notebook for screen: M. Night Shyamalan. You know why he couldn’t do it? ‘Cause he was doing The Sixth Sense.
My mind is blown right here! One of the most romantic movies of all time could have been directed by the director who gave us chilling flicks like Signs and Split. Before delving into horror, M. Night Shyamalan’s directorial debut was the AFI Fest release Praying with Anger, followed by the dramedy Wide Awake. Even though Wide Awake was a box office bomb, maybe New Line Cinema liked the director’s approach to lighthearted movies.
When you discover fun facts like these, it makes you think about how if M. Night Shyamalan took on The Notebook, there would be no The Sixth Sense. Given that the 1999 film is one of the seriously scariest ghost movies around and got six Oscar nominations, movie fans like myself cannot be without that one. So I think Shyamalan made the right call with The Sixth Sense, as it became one of his best movies.
On the other hand, I’m really curious if M. Night Shyamalan would have incorporated one of his signature twists into The Notebook. I would have loved it if the real twist in the book-to-movie adaptation had been if audiences didn’t know that the old nursing home couple was an older Noah and Allie until the very end. That would have thrown audiences for a loop. Or maybe in the Noah vs. Lon fan debate, Allie chose Lon instead. I guess we’ll have to make do with fanfics or videos to see what the Nicholas Sparks novel would have been like if the director of Unbreakable took on the project.
M. Night Shyamalan going with The Sixth Sense proves that everything happens for a reason. After all, Nicholas Sparks continued to tell GMA that Shyamalan’s psychological thriller inspired him to write a mysterious character in his novel Safe Haven. I’m assuming he’s talking about the character of Jo, whose twist revealed she was the ghost of the main character’s deceased wife, who encourages a new woman to pursue a relationship with him. That was a twist I didn’t see coming when I read the book.
Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan may not have collaborated on The Notebook movie, but they’ll be working together on the upcoming movie Remain. Based on an idea conceived by the romance writer, the plot of the 2026 movie release follows an architect who builds a house for a friend in New England, only for things to take an unexpected turn when he ventures inside. With the promise of a romance story and “big twists,” it sounds like the beginning of a beautiful collaboration.
It’s still unbelievable to me that M. Night Shyamalan came very close to directing The Notebook. But hey, at least Remain will be the chance to see how the romance and horror stylings of Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks will blend. We’ll all have the chance to check out the supernatural romantic thriller in theaters on October 23rd.