There are few book and movie lovers who haven’t heard the names Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan. For many, The Notebook and The Sixth Sense are staples in their entertainment archive. With decades of beloved stories under both their belts—in very different genres—we did not have a collab between these two storytelling giants on our 2025 bingo card, yet, here we are.

On October 14, Sparks will release his next novel, Remain, a supernatural love story co-created with M. Night Shyamalan. Next year, we’ll get the film from the world-renowned director. Mixing elements from both of their signature styles, Remain gives us a heart-filled tale of grief, transformation and the lasting power of love that’s classic Sparks and a ghostly mystery that is unmistakably Shyamalan.

We had the opportunity to sit and chat with Sparks about how this unexpected partnership came to be, the process of bringing two storytelling styles—and mediums—together, and why writing a haunting story was decades in the making for this #1 New York Times bestseller.

How the Sparks-Shyamalan Partnership Came to Be

If you’re wondering, like we were, “Who dreamt up this early 00s super collab?”, don’t worry we asked. This wasn’t the first time Sparks has been presented with a partnership like it, but the project took shape quickly.

“Our respective teams suggested that maybe we get together and collaborate on a story. And, you know, I’ve heard this with others, this is just one of those things: you think, ‘Oh, okay, sure.’

My team said, ‘Hey, look, you’re going to have a meeting, and your goal for that meeting is to come up with an original story that would work for both you and M. Night Shyamalan.’ He was going to do the same thing. So we had about six weeks to come up with an original story that would work for both of us. I strained my brain—I don’t know if he strained his—but anyway, we get in this meeting at his place in Pennsylvania. I pitched my story to him; he pitched his to me, two different, utterly original stories. We were both like, ‘Wow, wow, wow’ at both.

Then we decided right away, ‘Okay, let’s do your story, Night.’ We spent a big chunk of the meeting hammering out the details of that story.”

And voila, Remain was born. But the process from there was an interesting ride. The two developed their projects in parallel and both were unsure of what the ultimate outcome would be. Sparks considered a short story or a novella, Shyamalan wasn’t sure if he would direct or just produce the film. For nearly a year, those initial ideas was where the conversation ended until summer of 2024 when Shyamalan informed Sparks that Remain would indeed be his next movie that he’d write, direct and produce. At that point, Sparks realized he needed a full-length novel. Once the script was drafted, Sparks was finally able to see Shyamalan’s vision for their story for the first time, and he had some thoughts.

“He starts writing the script, filling in some of the details we didn’t cover. I get the script in October, I read it. ‘Wonderful,’ I said, ‘this is amazing. It’s going to be a great movie, but it won’t work as a book. This just isn’t going to work. The structure’s all off. There’s no explanation. I’ve got no backstory. You don’t know what any of these characters are thinking,’ I said. ‘This just isn’t gonna work as a book.’ And, and so I started working in October.”

From there, Sparks took the core of the story they’d imagined together and expanded the world for his particular format. This isn’t the first time, however, that Sparks has drafted a novel based on a script. For The Last Song he was both the author and screenwriter, but to keep up with the filming schedule, he had to write the script and then produce the novel, extracting novel-rich details from the sparse writing of a screenplay.

Now, the novel is hitting shelves this month and, according to Sparks, the film wrapped production in August and is slated for release in Fall 2026. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Phoebe Dynevor in the lead roles, readers picking up the book this season can look forward to seeing Shyamalan’s interpretation of the story within a year (a much quicker turnaround than most book lovers can hope for from a traditional adaptation).

The Supernatural, the Setting and Synchronicity

A huge part of what sets the tone for this story is the location. In the novel, our main character, Tate, arrives in Heatherington, MA–a fictionalized town in Cape Cod. Though the film is shot in Rhode Island, the overall feel is what you would hope for from a ghostly story like this. A place hundreds of years old with character.

“[New England] just seemed to me like a great location. I think both of us knew that it was [set in] a small coastal town. It just felt right because ghost stories need history. You need the old house. Things need to be creaky and a little spooky. The pipes have to make noise when the water runs.”

And while Sparks will maintain that at its core, Remain is a love story, he knew he wanted it to have elements that would keep readers on edge.

In the Acknowledgments of Remain, Sparks discusses how his first attempt at writing a novel actually began with a horror story. Surprising as it might be that the master of modern day love stories was interested in things that go bump in the night, it’s actually been a move in the making for a long time. Perhaps, even destined.

“I’ve dabbled a little bit with the supernatural before. Of course, in Safe Haven we don’t know whether the neighbor was ever really there, right? That was very challenging to get that character exactly right and surprise the reader. And that was, funnily, my nod to M. Night Shyamalan and The Sixth Sense because I appreciated that twist.

And here’s something I didn’t know until recently. Back when The Notebook was being adapted for film, Night was the writer they approached to write the script, but unfortunately, he was busy doing The Sixth Sense.”

Apparently, there’s more than just the timeline of their careers that have been tethering these two together… a synchronistic crossing of paths that is very Shyamalan coded has seemed to pave the way towards an inevitable team up.

But when asked if this was a full-on departure from his usual work or just a detour for a special project, he had this to say:

“It’s a special project. Of course, as you read the final pages of my novel, there is the potential to continue with that kind of story. And we’ll see. We’ll see what the readers say, and we’ll see what my calendar says, my mood says.

In the end, you know, I write love stories, that’s what I do. And I’m sure I’m always going to do that. I’m certainly not going to take a right turn and do something entirely different, I’m working on a love story now. And I’m sure even if I did something in the supernatural realm again, it would be another love story of some sort. That’s what the readers want, and I’m good with doing it as long as I can continue to come up with stories that I think are worth being told.”

So don’t worry, if you’re diehard fan of Sparks’ legacy of writing real world, straightforward love stories, he isn’t going anywhere. That is still the core of his work.

Adaptation, Alien and the Afterlife

As the conversation unfolded, it became sort of unclear whether the film would be a true adaptation of the book or if they were distinct stories told through the eyes of their individual creators.

“Is it an adaptation? Is it a companion? Is it a novelization? No, it’s none of those. It’s really none of those. What you have to imagine is that we conceived the story together. And then he went and did it as a movie. I went and did it as a book. […]

Same story, different mediums. You know, two sides of the same coin, basically.”

And as we discussed the film, curiosity about Sparks’ own inspirations (outside of Shyamalan) bubbled to the surface.

“I like the horror genre in general, that came from my dad. He loved them. I think my dad took me to see—it’s not necessarily horror, but it was pretty darn scary when you’re 12 years old—the original Alien. It was terrifying. I watch a lot of horror films, so, certainly you take ghostly elements and your challenge with that is to take something familiar and make it new, but it’s still got to stay familiar enough that it doesn’t feel foreign, you know.

And Remain did. Haunting while also being heart-filled, you can feel the tug between eerie and soft, between spooky and sweet, between Sparks and Shyamalan. Not in a combative way, more like a dance between what we have come to expect and love from a Sparks novel and the prickly sense that something is off that we get from the filmmaker.

Finally, it felt necessary—even essential—to ask Sparks if he had any ghost encounters of his own. Was he a believer, or just someone with a vivid imagination and an affection for the genre?

“Do I believe in ghosts? I guess I have to because I have a ghost story.”

Sparks begins to recount a time being at his friend, Billy Mills’ house. This isn’t an ordinary friend, it’s the American Oglala Lakota former track and field athlete who won a gold medal in the 10,000 metre run at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. A movie called, Running Brave, was made about him and he’s been a lifelong friend and father-figure to Sparks.

He proceeds to describe one visit in particular:

“We’re out one summer, and all of a sudden, I start seeing this flickering from the corner of my eye over in one direction. I look, nothing. This happens over and over. My ex-wife wakes up in the middle of the night. She says, ‘Who the hell’s playing the tom toms?’ Like drums? Walks the house. Every time she approaches the noise, it seems to move somewhere else. She walks there and it moves, she can’t figure it out. Day two or three, we say, ‘Um, you know, we think your house might be haunted.’ And they were like, ‘Oh, you mean George?’ They start telling stories about slamming doors, flickering lights, all of these things.”

Sparks’ friend then describes to him that he’d been gifted a Native American artifact—a whistle—and that all the unusual happenings started when it had arrived. Sparks continues:

“So, eventually he took this whistle, brought it back to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, gave it to one of Black Elk’s descendants, and said, ‘Look, this obviously doesn’t want to be here in my house.’ He swears—and he’s a very honest man—that he came back from that trip, opened the front door, and felt a whoosh of thank you. No flickering lights, no noises, no movement out of the corner of the eye ever since.”

For those wondering, yes, there is an element of this story that found its way into Remain. But we’re not going to tell you which. You’ll have to read to discover it.

What’s Next for Nicholas Sparks?

While Remain is the primary focus of the moment for Sparks, it’s far from the only thing he has going on. He’s currently celebrating the musical adaptation of The Notebook hitting the stage. Performances are taking place across the country over the next year (check out tour dates here). His recent novel, Counting Miracles, is headed for adaptation by Amazon Studios with Alan Ritchson (known for Reacher) starring and producing.

And, of course, he’s working on another novel. Though usually quite tight-lipped about a project that’s in the works, he decided to give the She Reads audience a tiny insight:

“It is a love story set in North Carolina. But other than that, it’s different from anything I’ve ever done. Very. So even more different than [Remain].”

Talk about a cliffhanger.

Remain

Remain by Nicholas Sparks with M. Night Shyamalan

Tate is attempting to recover from the loss of his beloved sister. After a stay in a psychiatric hospital, he’s attempting to start fresh in Cape Cod, designing a home for his friend. Haunted by his sister’s deathbed confession that she can speak to ghosts, he attempts to settle into the bed and breakfast where he’s staying, despite some unusual occurrences. When he meets Wren, something inside him is awakened. He’s drawn to her. But the closer he gets, the deeper he is sucked into her treacherous past and the secrets haunting the town.

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