Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan on 'Remain,' their supernatural romance novel

Summary

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NPR’s Book of the Day: Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan on Remain

Overview

In this episode, NPR’s Book of the Day explores the unusual and intriguing creative partnership between beloved romance novelist Nicholas Sparks and famed supernatural filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. Together, they discuss their new collaboration: Remain, a supernatural romance novel penned by Sparks (now available), and a companion film directed by Shyamalan (due out October next year). Host Leila Fadel dives into how these two masters of their genres found unexpected common ground, how the project unfolded, and what makes this unique creative process special.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

How Did This Collaboration Begin? ([02:51]–[03:23])

• Hollywood serendipity: Sparks describes how their partnership came about:

  “It’s kind of born one of those Hollywood stories. My agent in Los Angeles knew someone at Blinding Edge Pictures and they get together and… there was a suggestion Knight and I meet, maybe collaborate on something.”
  — Nicholas Sparks [03:01]

• Low odds, big result:

  “99% of [these meetings] don’t pan out for one reason or another. This one did.”
  — Nicholas Sparks [03:18]

An Unlikely Yet Natural Pairing ([03:23]–[04:46])

• Not so different after all:
  Shyamalan insists their genres are more aligned than they seem:

  “All my movies are family dramas with the clothing of a ride. So where I'm coming from is very similar to where he’s coming from.”
  — M. Night Shyamalan [03:38]

• Shared storytelling DNA:
  Sparks remarks:

  “When I think of Knight’s work, sure, you remember the twists… but what I remember are really well developed characters. ...We both like to keep pages turning or keep viewers in the seats.”
  — Nicholas Sparks [04:04]

• An unexpected commonality:

  “We both love killing protagonists.”
  — M. Night Shyamalan [04:33]

• Two visions, one story:
  Shyamalan describes their unique process:

  “We came up with a story, and then he wrote a different story than I wrote.”
  — M. Night Shyamalan [04:46]
  Sparks puts it poetically:
  “If the idea was a coin, he stamped one side, I stamped the other.”
  — Nicholas Sparks [04:54]

About Remain ([04:58]–[06:42])

• Book synopsis:
  Leila Fadel summarizes:
  Tate Doniphan, a successful architect recovering from the loss of his sister and battling depression, heads to Cape Cod to design his friend’s summer home. There, he meets a young woman who changes his worldview. Supernatural mystery and romance are central.
• Sparks wanted something new:

  “My challenge was … to not do the same thing I just did with the Notebook. How do I do what I do but make it new and interesting for the readers?”
  — Nicholas Sparks [06:27]

• Blending genres:
  Sparks shares his origins:

  “My first novel was horror… the second was a murder mystery… Then, I wrote the Notebook… There’s a little bit of practicality here — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it… So, my challenge was then to not do the same thing I just did with the Notebook.”
  — Nicholas Sparks [05:32]

Shyamalan’s Path to the Supernatural ([06:42]–[07:46])

• Genre expectations:
  Shyamalan reflects on being typecast:

  “The first movie I did was a drama. …Then I wrote Stuart Little, and then I wrote a romance, which… led them to say, why don’t you write Notebook? And then I wrote Sixth Sense. ...But I was like, well, the same year I wrote Stuart Little. Why am I not that guy? I think it’s looked down on, genre—and so I now really love it.”
  — M. Night Shyamalan [06:51]

• The supernatural’s place:

  “It’s just the way it goes. …It’s been a beautiful thing for me now that I’m 30 years in.”
  — M. Night Shyamalan [07:32]

The Fusion of Book and Film — A Creative Experiment ([07:46]–[08:35])

• A rare creative arrangement:

  “I can’t imagine this ever happening again.”
  — M. Night Shyamalan [07:59]

• Why it worked:
  Trust and timing were key:

  “I’ve struggled with various directors… my vision was different and they’re just not getting it. …There wasn’t any of that because I trusted him on the film and he trusted me on the novel for this same story.”
  — Nicholas Sparks [08:11] “Maybe if we met at different times in our lives to try to do this, it might have been different.”
  — M. Night Shyamalan [08:28]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If the idea was a coin, he stamped one side, I stamped the other.”
  — Nicholas Sparks [04:54]

• “All my movies are family dramas with the clothing of a ride.”
  — M. Night Shyamalan [03:38]

• “We both love killing protagonists.”
  — M. Night Shyamalan [04:33]
  (both laugh)

• “There wasn’t any of that because I trusted [Knight] on the film and he trusted me on the novel for this same story.”
  — Nicholas Sparks [08:11]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Partnership Origins: [03:01]
• Similarities & Differences: [03:38] – [04:46]
• Process of Creating Book & Movie in Parallel: [04:46] – [04:58]
• Summary and Themes of Remain: [04:58] – [06:27]
• Genre Blending & Personal Histories: [06:42] – [07:32]
• Reflections on Creative Trust: [08:11] – [08:35]

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Takeaways

This episode unveils the creative synergy between Sparks and Shyamalan, showing how two celebrated artists, each with distinct storytelling strengths, found profound overlap in their focus on character depth, emotional stakes, and genre innovation. Remain’s dual existence—as both novel and forthcoming film—offers a unique experiment in storytelling, uniting romance and the supernatural while staying true to both creators’ core values.

Fans can enjoy Remain as a novel now, and anticipate Shyamalan’s film adaptation due next October.

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Transcript

[Andrew Limbong]

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. It's soon gonna be February, which means Valentine's Day is almost here.

[Nicholas Sparks]

Almost.

[Andrew Limbong]

So you've still got some time to cook up something special for your significant other. If you, like me, tend to push this sort of stuff off until the last minute. But this podcast is, of course a public service. And so to help you get into a romantic state of mind, all this week we're showcasing interviews with romance authors. Now, if you're confused because you saw from the episode title that horror director M. Night Shyamalan is on the pod today, that'd be understandable. But last year he got together with the one and only Nicholas Sparks to work on a book and movie project titled Remain, and the two of them spoke to NPR's Leila Fadel about melding their two beowicks to create a supernatural romance. That's after the break.

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[Leila Fadel]

Selling novelist known for romantic dramas like the Notebook, which was made into a movie.

[M. Night Shyamalan]

I waited for you for seven years.

[Nicholas Sparks]

Now it's too late.

[M. Night Shyamalan]

I wrote you 365 letters.

[Leila Fadel]

I wrote you every day for a year. And M. Night Shyamalan is known for supernatural thrillers. He's most famous for movies like the Sixth Sense, I see dead people. So you might not think these two creators, storytellers from different genres, would be collaborating, but that's just what they're doing with their next project that will be both a novel and a movie. The book is out right now by Nicholas Sparks and it's called Remain and the movie will be out next year in October. Nicholas Sparks M. Night Shyamalan, thank you so much for joining us here at the New York bureau.

[Nicholas Sparks]

Yeah, thanks for having me.

[M. Night Shyamalan]

Thanks for having us. Definitely.

[Leila Fadel]

So when I saw this collaboration, the first thing I thought was, what? Yeah. And I kind of want to know how it was born. And maybe we start with you, Nicholas.

[Nicholas Sparks]

Yeah, it was. It's kind of born one of those Hollywood stories, you know, My agent in Los Angeles knew someone at Blinding Edge Pictures, and they get together, and there was a suggestion that Knight and I meet, maybe we'll collaborate on something. And I've heard these things before about working with lots of different people. 99% of them don't pan out for one reason or other. This one did.

[Leila Fadel]

I think some people might think it's an unlikely pairing. I mean, you're known for telling romantic, dramatic stories. You're known for supernatural thrillers and these plot twists. Is it as unlikely as people think?

[M. Night Shyamalan]

Not at all. All my movies are family dramas with the clothing of a ride. So where I'm coming from is very similar to where he's coming from. And when I started out in filmmaking, the first screenplay that Hollywood ever kind of read of mine was a romance. And When I was 25, they asked me to adapt the Notebook.

[Leila Fadel]

So this partnership might have happened over 20 years ago.

[Nicholas Sparks]

Yeah, it might have. And, you know, it's funny, when I think of Knight's work, sure, you remember the twists and everything, but what I remember are really well developed characters. And I remember character journeys. Right. I mean, if you look at the Sixth Sense, it's. It's a journey of figuring out who you really are. We've both been into trying to craft real people. We both like to keep pages turning or keep viewers in the seats. I've been known to bump people off at the end of my novels. I've kept them together.

[M. Night Shyamalan]

We both love killing protagonists.

[Nicholas Sparks]

Sure. So there's more similarities. And I think I view Knight primarily as a storyteller in film. Right, you're a storyteller in film. And let's tell a great story story with great characters.

[M. Night Shyamalan]

It's. It's a very unusual thing that we did because we came up with a story, and then he wrote a different story than I wrote.

[Nicholas Sparks]

If the idea was a coin, he stamped one side, I stamped the other.

[Leila Fadel]

Before we dive into how Sparks wrote the book and how Shyamalan made the film, here's a quick synopsis of the book. Because we don't know yet what's in the film. No spoilers, promise. The story centers on a Successful architect Tate Doniphan, he arrives in Cape Cod to design his best friend's summer home. And he's coming out of treatment for severe depression after the death of his sister. Ultimately, Tate Donovan will be played by Jake Gyllenhaal in the movie. And because there has to be romance, of course, this is Nicholas Sparks, after all. Donovan meets a young woman who challenges the way he sees the world.

[Nicholas Sparks]

You know, this one has a lot of mystery. It's a little bit of whodunit. It's got a lot of. It's got a lot of action, right? So it's love and mystery, or love and danger. Love and the supernatural, however you want to describe it. It was interesting. I wrote my first novel was very genre. It was a horror novel. My was a strange unpublished. And the second one I wrote unpublished as well. That was a murder mystery. I had those. And then as I'm debating on what to write for a novel, I was about 27 or something like that. I was married to Kathy at the time. Her grandparents had this great story, right? She's got dementia, and she doesn't always remember who he is. And he's telling her their story every day. And I said, you know, that's really very touching, and that's very moving. Came the Notebook. Okay, so I write the Notebook. This is one. I'm like, well, come on, there's a little bit of practicality here. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. You know, if this is what people like, you know, hey, let's do a love story. So my challenge was then to not do the same thing I just did with the Notebook. How do I do what I do but make it new and interesting for the readers?

[Leila Fadel]

With you, Knight, I want to ask about why you were drawn to the supernatural, the things that we can't see. And that's such a theme in so many of your films.

[M. Night Shyamalan]

There's such an interesting parallel to the story you just told. When I'm thinking about myself, because first movie I did was a drama. The second movie was. It had a little supernatural. So there's there. But it was more like a comedy, like a kid's comedy. And then I wrote Stuart Little, and then I wrote a romance, which is what then led me to them saying, why don't you write Notebook? And then I wrote Sixth Sense. So then everyone was like, well, you're this guy. And. But I was like, well, the same year I wrote Stuart Little. Why am I not that guy? I think it's looked down on genre and so I now really love it. That. That. That's.

[Leila Fadel]

You think the supernatural.

[M. Night Shyamalan]

Yeah, it's looked down on. So if. And it's just the way it. It's just the way it goes, you know, and something about, hey, nothing going on here. Nothing to look at here. Don't applaud over here. It's been a beautiful thing for me now that I'm 30 years in.

[Leila Fadel]

But you guys did this together versus adapting it once it's already been created. Is that the future? You know, when you think about collaborations between authors and filmmakers, because you do see a lot of films.

[M. Night Shyamalan]

I can't imagine this ever happening again.

[Andrew Limbong]

No, no.

[Leila Fadel]

This is a once and a.

[M. Night Shyamalan]

Well, because it's. So you would need exactly this type of relationship. Relationship for it to work. I just can see it happening again.

[Nicholas Sparks]

I've struggled with various directors. You know, my vision was different and they're just not getting it. And you can grow frustrated with this. There wasn't any of that because I trusted him on the film and he trusted me on the novel for this same story.

[M. Night Shyamalan]

Yeah, it's fascinating. I don't know, even maybe if we met at different times in our lives to try to do this, it might have been different.

[Leila Fadel]

That's novelist Nicholas Sparks and filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. Sparks novel Romaine is out now and the film will be out next October. Thank you both so much.

[Nicholas Sparks]

Thank you. Thank you for having us.

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