Nicholas Sparks has been a scourge on Hollywood for a long time, forcing otherwise talented actors and actresses to weep and wail in hokey adaptations of his novels like A Walk to Remember and The Notebook. But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, apparently, as Mandy Moore, Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams and all the rest have gone on to have reasonable careers, despite participating in the madness.
The next to join the misty-eyed crew will be Miley Cyrus, who is soooo special she has Sparks adapting his upcoming novel specifically for the the artist also known as Hannah Montana. A Walk to Remember was specifically cited by the movie's producer, Jennifer Gibgot, in Variety, given that it was the movie that transformed Mandy Moore from pop princess to fairly respected actress. Oh, come on, you know you all loved her in Saved!.
I'm one of those weird media grown-ups who knows who Miley Cyrus is but has never heard her speak, much less sing, so I have no idea if she has the chops to pull off a real movie. But I like the idea of Nicholas Sparks movies as training wheels, given that they're not that demanding and are better off going to the younger actors, who can handle the potential career embarrassment. Diane Lane and Richard Gere, on the other hand, as stars of the upcoming Sparks adaptation Nights in Rodanthe, have no excuse.
