Zac Efron in New Nicholas Sparks Adaptation

Press release:

Scott Hicks Directs Zac Efron in New Romantic Drama

Film is based on the Nicholas Sparks novel The Lucky One

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography is underway on Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ romantic drama based on Nicholas Sparks’ bestseller The Lucky One, starring Zac Efron (“17 Again,” “Charlie St. Cloud”), Taylor Schilling (upcoming “Atlas Shrugged”) and Blythe Danner (“Meet the Parents,” “Meet the Fockers”).

The film is being directed by Academy Award®-nominated writer/director Scott Hicks (“Shine,” “No Reservations”). Hicks directs from a screenplay by Will Fetters (“Remember Me”), adapted from the Nicholas Sparks novel The Lucky One. The producers are Denise Di Novi, who previously produced Nicolas Sparks novel-to-film adaptations of “A Walk To Remember,” “Nights In Rodanthe” and “Message in a Bottle,” and Kevin McCormick (upcoming “Arthur”). Ravi D. Mehta, Alison Greenspan and Bruce Berman serve as executive producers, and Kerry Heysen is co-producer.

Rounding out the cast are Riley Thomas Stewart (TV’s “90210”), Jay R. Ferguson (TV’s “Mad Men”) and Adam Lefevre (“The Bounty Hunter”).

U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Efron) returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive—a photograph he found of a woman he doesn’t even know. Learning her name is Beth (Schilling) and where she lives, he shows up at her door, and ends up taking a job at her family-run local kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm.

The production’s creative team also includes cinematographer Alar Kivilo (“The Blind Side”), production designer Barbara Ling (“No Reservations”), costume designer Dayna Pink (“Bruno,”) and editor Scott Gray (“The Boys Are Back”).

The film is being shot in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, notably in the surrounding communities of St. Bernard Parish, Covington, Abita Springs, Burnside, Ponchatoula and Madisonville. It will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.