Germany’s Senator Film has signed a deal with best-selling romance novelist Nicholas Sparks to adapt his novel The Rescue for the German market, The Hollywood Reporter said.
The German-language version of the book, about a firefighter who falls in love with a single mother, will be set in Germany and shot on location. Senator Film Productions will co-produce the film together with author’s Nicholas Sparks Productions. Helge Sasse and Ulf Israel will head up the production for Senator together with Sparks’ longtime publishing agent and creative collaborator Theresa Park.
Germany is the largest market for Sparks’ books outside the U.S. His novels has sold in excess of 12.5 million copies there.
“I’m excited to produce something special for my German-speaking fans, who have supported my books and films for so many years,” Sparks said.
Senator hopes to make a series of German-language films based on Sparks’ prodigious body of work, which, to date, includes 16 novels. Several of his books, including Message in A Bottle, The Notebook and The Last Song, have been made into movies.
The latest adaptation, Warner Bros’ The Lucky One starring Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling, has earned some $55 million worldwide to date, including $3.2 million in its first two weeks in German release. Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallström is currently in pre-production on the latest Sparks’ adaptation, the Josh Duhamel-starrer Safe Haven.
