Every Nicholas Sparks Movie Adaptation in Order (2024)

Love is in the air! It's time to get our loved ones their well-deserved boxes of chocolates, flower bouquets, and a night to binge on romance films. But who says that you have to wait for a certain day of the month to get all touchy-feely with your partner? Personally, setting up a movie night on a random Thursday sounds much more enjoyable. With that said, when it comes to pure romance films, most tend to lean towards authors like Nicholas Sparks.

Sparks has been in the romance novel game since 1996, and he hasn't stopped now. Out of 23 novels, 11 of them have been adapted into well-known films. So, there is plenty to pick and choose from when sitting down with your beloved and enjoying a movie night. But because there are so many, how will you know what to watch first? What order should you watch them in? Here are a few ideas.

Watch in Chronological Order

When it comes to Sparks's movies, there is no proper "chronological" order, since they are all stand-alone films. Not one film is a sequel to another. None of them are really connected through plot points, although a good bit of them are set in North Carolina for some reason. So, instead of chronologically through plot, we're going to list them chronologically as to what time periods these films took place. Keep in mind that some of these timelines are not totally confirmed and are educated guesses.

The Notebook (2004)

When you think of the name Nicholas Sparks, you think of The Notebook. It's your classic tale of an intense love set in the 1940s between a rich girl (Rachel McAdams as Allie) and a lower-class man (Ryan Gosling as Noah). Their love story is told through an elderly man named Duke reading from a notebook to an elderly woman patient. Being set in the 1940s, The Notebook takes place in the earliest time period of the Sparks-verse and makes a great place to start if you're making your way through these decades of romances.

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A Walk to Remember (2002)

Directed by Adam Shankman, A Walk to Remember is a cute coming-of-age romance drama set in a small town during the 1950s. High school bad boy Landon Carter (Shane West) is forced to attend his school's play in order to not be expelled for drinking underage. He meets Jamie Sullivan, a girl he has known since kindergarten but never interacted with her. She helps him learn his lines for the play and love blooms between them, but tragedy threatens to tear them apart.

Stream on Netflix

Nights in Rodanthe (2008)

You can see a common theme with these romantic drama genres. In Nights in Rodanthe, Adrienne (Diane Lane) tends to a friend's inn as she is trying to get her chaotic life back in order. There is only one guest staying at this inn: a troubled surgeon named Paul (Richard Gere) who is trying to cope with an operation he performed that failed. During a severe storm, the two work together to protect the inn and fall in love over the course of the film. The main plotline is set in 1988 but told from Adrienne's point of view as she tells her daughter this story in 2002.

Rent on Apple TV

Message in a Bottle (1999)

Set in the late 1990s, we have Message in a Bottle. Yet another romantic drama, this film centers on the journalist Theresa Osborne (Robin Wright Penn) who finds a tragic love letter in a bottle while jogging on the beach. Her paper publishes the letter, and she tracks down the anonymous writer, eventually meeting a weary widower named Garret Blake (Kevin Costner). She falls in love with him, but in doing so, feels guilty because of her real reason for her visit.

Rent on Apple TV

The Best of Me (2014)

The Best of Me is a romantic drama directed by Michael Hoffman about a couple named Dawson (James Marsden) and Amanda (Liana Liberato) who were high-school sweethearts that reunite after 20 years of being apart. The film alternates between scenes of their relationship in 1992. While attending a mutual friend's funeral, the two start to rekindle their relationship, but the things that drove them apart in the past are even bigger threats now.

Stream on Starz

The Choice (2016)

Another romantic drama, The Choice is directed by Ross Katz. The novel was divided into two time periods (1996 and 2007), so we can assume that the film follows through with this time. Travis Shaw (Benjamin Walker) falls in love upon his first meeting with his new neighbor, Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer). Only Travis is a ladies' man who isn't too fond of serious relationships and Grace is in a committed relationship with her long-term boyfriend. Yet as this unlikely pair's bond grows, how far are they willing to go for their love to blossom?

Stream on Netflix

Dear John (2010)

Dear John is a romantic war drama starring Channing Tatum as Staff Sergeant John Tyree and Amanda Seyfried as Savannah Lynn Curtis. In this film, set between 2001 and 2003, John is a soldier who falls in love with college student Savannah while he is on leave. They continue their long-distance relationship for several years via letters while he is in the army. As this relationship progresses with very rare occasions to meet in person, is it meant to last?

Stream on Hulu

The Last Song (2010)

One of the less common Sparks adaptations centering around teenagers is The Last Song. This coming-of-age teen romance drama was the debut of director Julie Ann Robinson. This film was co-written by Sparks as he was writing this novel. Since the book was written in 2009 and the movie came out in 2010, it's safe to assume that 2010 is the accurate time period for the film. It tells the story of 17-year-old Ronnie Miller (Miley Cyrus), a troubled young pianist who is forced to stay with her estranged father during the summer in a southern beach town. She falls in love with Will Blakelee (Liam Hemsworth), a skilled volleyball player who wants to go to university.

Stream on Hulu

The Longest Ride (2015)

This Western romantic drama, The Longest Ride, is about the love between Luke (Scott Eastwood) and Sophia (Britt Roberston) that is tested because of their different goals. Luke wants to make a comeback as a professional bull rider and keep his championship title on the rodeo circuit. Sophia is set to go to New York to embark on her dream job in the arts. However, the two come across an elderly man whose decades-long love for his wife withstands the test of time. The film is set between 2011 and 2013.

Stream on Max

The Lucky One (2012)

The Lucky One is directed by Scott Hicks. It's another romantic war drama. Set around the year 2012, this film stars Zac Efron as Logan, a US marine who finds a photograph of a woman while he is serving in Iraq. This photo served as a good luck charm that kept him alive in battle. He later tracks down the woman in the photo, a woman named Beth (Taylor Schilling), and forms a relationship with her.

Stream on Tubi

Safe Haven (2013)

Safe Haven is set somewhere around 2013, this romance drama takes a rather thrilling turn. When Katie Feldman (Julianne Hough) moves to a small North Carolinian town to begin her life anew, she forms an unlikely relationship with widower Alex (Josh Duhamel). Through him and his children, Katie learns how to love and trust again. But her past comes back to haunt her not too long into her new happy life.

Stream on Prime Video

Watch By Release Date

However, since the Nicholas Sparks adaptations have no linkage to each other, there's nothing tying you to a chronological viewing order. There's also a lot to be gained from watching the movies in release order. This way, it's possible to see the way the style of these adaptations has evolved over time. Here's every movie in the Sparks-verse in order of release:

Of course, you can't go wrong with the various Nicholas Sparks ranking systems we have here, so there are plenty of ways to watch these films.