Nicholas Sparks

Hold on to your hearts, girls; one of the sons of Hollywood, Scott Eastwood, is set to become the next Ryan Gosling in the latest Nicholas Sparks' film adaptation 'The Longest Ride'. Prepare to shed even more tears than you did for 'The Notebook'!

Scott Eastwood is a cowboy in 'The Longest Ride'

Nicholas Sparks has done it again. 'The Longest Ride' is the latest heartbreaking romance tale of his to be adapted to film, eleven years after his debut novel 'The Notebook' (written in 1996) hit screens to much acclaim. To this day it remains one of the top tear-jerkers for film lovers everywhere. Now, it seems, there's competition! The film version of Sparks' 2013 novel 'The Longest Ride' is set to reach theaters this Spring - and it's another weepy one. Of course, all his romance films have had their moments: 'A Walk To Remember', 'The Lucky One' and 'Dear John' to name but a few. But this one really looks set to pull at the heartstrings.

Continue reading: Can 'The Longest Ride' Do For Scott Eastwood What 'The Notebook' Did For Ryan Gosling?

Being Valentine's Day week, cinemas are flooded with romantic movies like the new teen franchise-launcher Beautiful Creatures. US audiences can also weep their way through the new Nicholas Sparks drama Safe Haven, while in the UK couples instead can laugh at Judd Apatow's epic rom-com This Is 40 and the clunky British farce Run For Your Wife. And for alternative viewing, there's the ultimate date movie A Good Day to Die Hard, Bruce Willis' fifth instalment in the crashing, exploding franchise.

And this kind of action dominates the week's new selection of trailers, starting with the very explosive-looking Olympus Has Fallen, starring Gerard Butler as a Secret Service agent trying to retake the White House after a terrorist invasion. The muscly cast includes Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett and Melissa Leo. It opens in March.

Continue reading: A Week In Movies: Beautiful Creatures Opens, Tom Cruise Visits A Post-apocalyptic Earth And Billy Crystal And John Goodman Reunite In Monsters University

Could 'A Good Day To Die Hard' be the worst movie to ever top the U.S box office? It will almost certainly be amongst the worst to take over $50 million on its opening weekend, as it is expected to do over the coming days. The fifth instalment in Bruce Willis's action franchise has been derided by critics and currently holds a score of just 14% on the Rotten Tomatoes review aggregating site (down 2% in 24 hours).

20th Century Fox anticipated a softer opening of around $40 million though industry analysts suggest the movie will take at least $10 million more than that. Either way, the competition don't stand a chance this weekend, with 'Safe Haven' likely to finish second with takings of around $25 million. Relativity Media will settle for second place, given romance author Nicholas Sparks' latest film adaptation cost less than one-third as much to make as the fifth Die Hard. Another movie - Beautiful Creatures - could prove to be a potential rival for Safe Haven and should take around $22 million over the long President's Day weekend. Animated 3-D movie 'Escape From Planet Earth' is likely to gross around $19 million during its first four days.

'A Good Day to Die Hard,' was made on a budget of around $92 million and follows Willis' John McClane character as he teams up with his long-estranged CIA agent son in Moscow. The popular movies have pulled in millions at the box-office and new instalments are pretty much guaranteed to be big hits. The highest grossing film in the franchise 'Live Free or Die Hard,' started off with $33.4 million in June 2007 and went on to collect $134.5 million domestically.

Continue reading: Will 'A Good Day To Die Hard' Be The Worst Movie To Top The Box Office?

Updates From Sundance Film Festival And The London Critics' Circle Awards Plus Trailers For, Stoker, Emperor And Red 2

As the Sundance Film Festival continues in Utah, buzz is emerging about the new Nicole Kidman movie Stoker, in which she plays the widowed mother of teen Mia Wasikowska as they deal with the arrival of the unexpectedly sexy Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode). From the director of Old Boy, a new trailer depicts the film as a stylish, warped and very black comedy. It comes to cinemas on March 1st.

Here in Britain, two leading awards contenders open this week. Steven Spielberg's Lincoln stars Daniel Day-Lewis, the front-runner in the Best Actor race. This would be his unprecedented third win in the category. And Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty stars Jessica Chastain, who is currently the favourite for Best Actress, although Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook is giving her some serious competition.

But no one should write off iconic French actress Emmanuelle Riva's astonishing turn in Amour. She won the London Critics' Circle Film Award for Best Actress on Sunday. The London critics also gave Amour their Film of the Year title, and it's up for Best Picture at the Oscars as well.

Continue reading: A Week In Movies: Sundance Buzz For Stoker Trailer, London Critics' Choose Amour, First Look At Tommy Lee Jones In Emperor