If I Stay
‘Twilight’ director Catherine Hardwicke in talks for young-adult film ‘If I Stay’
by Nicole Sperling/Entertainment Weekly
Summit Entertainment is trying to make lightning strike twice. The studio behind the Twilight movie series has plans to adapt a buzzy young-adult novel called If I Stay with Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke at the helm, EW has learned exclusively. The studio would not confirm the plan; a Summit insider said the parties are negotiating and a deal is not yet complete. The book, from author/journalist Gayle Forman (Sisters in Sanity), doesn’t hit shelves until April 2 but was scooped up by Summit last month. The project centers on 17-year old musician Mia who, after a violent car accident, finds herself watching her damaged body taken from the wreck. She must decide whether or not she has the will to live. It’s interesting that Hardwicke and Summit would team up again considering how the two parted ways after Twilight became a massive worldwide box office success. This reunion suggests that rumors of discord between the director and her studio may have been greatly exaggerated.
Gabrielle Zevin’s Elsewhere is another good YA read-alike for The Lovely Bones. ‘After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to “live.” Is it possible to grow up while getting younger?’