Michelle Monaghan Joins Nicholas Sparks Film ‘The Best of Me’ (Exclusive)

Michelle Monaghan will star in the next romantic Nicholas Sparks adaptation, The Best of Me.

Gambit helmer Michael Hoffman will direct the film, which follows a pair of former high school sweethearts who reunite after many years when they both return to their small North Carolina hometown.

Sparks wrote the book, which was released in March 2013. He is also producing along with Ryan Kavanaugh, Theresa Park.

J. Mills Goodloe and Will Fetters wrote the script.

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In July, Relativity picked up the rights to The Best of Me, making it the third partnership between the author and studio. Warner Bros. initially bought the rights to the novel back in 2011.

Best of Me will be the ninth Sparks book made into a film.

Relativity worked with Sparks on his previous film adaptation, Safe Haven, which starred Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel. That film, which opened on Valentine’s Day this year, has earned $71.3 million domestically to date.

Monaghan’s previous work includes Mission: Impossible III, Gone Baby Gone and Source Code. Her upcoming projects include HBO’s drama True Detective, and on the film side, she’ll be in Claudia Myers‘ Fort Bliss with Ron Livingston, A Many Splintered Thing opposite Chris Evans and Better Living Through Chemistry. She’s repped by ICM Partners, Circle of Confusion and Sloane Offer.

E-mail: Rebecca.Ford@THR.com
Twitter: @Beccamford