Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan published their novel Remain today, and they discuss the unique collaboration on both the book and the forthcoming film in the brief video below.
After conceiving the story together, the creatives independently wrote writing the screenplay and novel based on the same concept and characters but tailored to their respective mediums.
“I think what’s unique about it that we were both able to maintain our individual inspirations,” says Shyamalan. “We were just doing our own versions, but it was very beautiful how each of us did our own thing.”
“Hopefully people will love the novel as a novel and will love the film as a film,” adds Sparks. “They’re like fraternal twins. Not identical, they’re fraternal twins.”
Shyamalan’s film, which recently wrapped production in Rhode Island, is due out on October 23, 2026 from Warner Bros.
Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), Phoebe Dynevor (“Bridgerton”), and Ashley Walters (“Adolescence”) star in the supernatural romance thriller.
Julie Hagerty (Airplane), Jay O. Sanders (Along Came a Spider), Tracy Ifeachor (“The Pitt”), Hannah James (“Mercy Street”), Caleb Ruminer (“Finding Carter”), Kieran Mulcare (“Jessica Jones”), and Maria Dizzia (“Orange is the New Black”) round out the cast.
Here’s the book’s synopsis:
“When New York architect Tate Donovan arrives in Cape Cod to design his best friend’s summer home, he is hoping to make a fresh start. Recently discharged from an upscale psychiatric facility where he was treated for acute depression, he is still wrestling with the pain of losing his beloved sister.
“Sylvia’s deathbed revelation—that she can see spirits who are still tethered to the living world, a gift that runs in their family—sits uneasily with Tate, who struggles to believe in more than what reason can explain. But when he takes up residence at a historic bed-and-breakfast on the Cape, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Wren who will challenge every assumption he has about his logical and controlled world.
“Tate and Wren find themselves forging an immediate connection, one that neither has ever experienced before. But Tate gradually discovers that below the surface of Wren’s idyllic small-town life, hatred, jealousy, and greed are festering, threatening their fragile relationship just as it begins to blossom.
“Tate realizes that in order to free Wren from an increasingly desperate fate, he will need to unearth the truth about her past before time runs out… a quest that will make him doubt whether we can ever believe the stories we tell about ourselves, and the laws that govern our existence. Love—while transformative—can sometimes be frightening.”
Remain is produced by Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan for Blinding Edge Pictures alongside Sparks’ longtime producing partner Theresa Park and Marc Bienstock. Sparks serves as executive producer.
The post M. Night Shyamalan, Nicholas Sparks Talk ‘Remain’ Novel & Film: “They’re Like Fraternal Twins” appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
