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DEVELOPMENT
"The Last Song" was written specially for Miley Cyrus by best-seller author Nicholas Sparks. Sparks work had already been very sucessful in the big screen, specially "The Notebook" and "A Walk to Remember". During a meeting with Disney executive Jason Reed discussing Miley's career, she expressed a wish to film a movie similar to "A Walk to Remember", staring Mandy Moore. Miley and Sparks happened to be represented by the same agency, United Talent Agency, so they contacted Sparks and asked him to write a screenplay and novel simultaneously with Cyrus in mind for the lead. The part was intended to be Cyrus' breakout role from her popular Hannah Montana character Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana, with hopes of introducing the actress to adult audiences.
Sparks told Variety Magazine that Miley Cyrus and her family "were very familiar with the work I’ve done in the past. That played a role in this project coming together." Sparks completed the first draft of the screenplay in December 2008, the first rewrite later that month, and the second and final rewrite in January 2009, following the hiring of the film's director. Both rewrites took approximately one or two days, and Sparks found them relatively simple.The finished screenplay was approximately 100 pages long. Once Sparks' idea had been agreed to by Cyrus, her family, and the film's producers, Disney bought the film rights in September 2008. Talking about the writing process, Sparks told a crowd at the Paramount Center for the Arts that, "On this one, I wrote the screenplay first and then the novel. That’s the first time I’ve done that.” He later told Daily Variety, "This is similar to the way it’s gone with movies based on my novels; it’s just out of order. Certain opportunities garner your interest, and this was one of those."
During development, the plot was kept secret. The title was known as "The Untitled Miley Cyrus Project". In an online chat in 2008, Sparks wrote that for him "titles come last" in the development of a book, and that though he had the idea for the novel he did not yet have the name. In 2008, Sparks said of the novel, "I write love stories, so something will probably happen along those lines.” According to the book's synopsis released in 2009, "The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story of love on many levels--first love, love between parents and children -- that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that love can break our hearts...and heal them."
The film version of The Last Song is scheduled for release on March 31, 2010, after being postponed from its original date for January 8. Offspring Entertainment produced the film for Touchstone Pictures, an alternative film label of The Walt Disney Company. The Last Song is Sparks' first screenplay to be brought to film as well as Robinson’s feature film directorial debut. The setting, originally North Carolina like the novel, changed to Georgia after states campaigned for months to host production for three months.
To determine the specific town, location scouts scoured the state for an aged, isolated, oceanfront property to use as the Miller family’s home in the film. After another three months and the discovery of the "Adams Cottage" on the southern tip of Tybee Island, Tybee and neighboring locations became the sites of filming in late March, with the intention of masquerading the area as Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. However, the locale proved too unique to disguise. “We had a hard time trying to hide the fact that this was Tybee and Savannah was Savannah," said Bass Hampton, the film's location director. Filmmakers convinced Sparks to change the setting of the film and to Tybee Island, thus allowing them to incorporate landmarks such as the Tybee Island Light Station and the Savannah Historic District. The setting of the novel remained in North Carolina. Though other movies have been filmed in Tybee Island, The Last Song is the first to actually be set in Tybee.[9] With the city’s name plastered on everything from police cars to businesses, Georgia officials predict a lasting effect on the economy. In addition, The Last Song is estimated to have brought up to 500 summer jobs to Georgia, $8 million to local businesses, and $17.5 million to state businesses. Filming lasted from June 15 to August 18, 2009 with much of it occurring on the island's beach and pier, and filming did not took place during weekends. The filming time was decided to fit Miley's busy shedule between a fall music tour and the filming of Hannah Montana. The wrap party was held on the 16.
Disney called Adam Shankman, director of A Walk to Remember,[24] who signed on to produce the potential Cyrus film along with his sister and Offspring Entertainment production company partner, Jennifer Gibgot. Tish Cyrus, Cyrus' mother and co-manager, became the film's executive producer.
In March 2009, Disney announced that Julie Anne Robinson would be directing the film. The Last Song is Robinson's first feature length film, although she is a veteran of television episodes. Robinson previously helmed episodes of American series such as Weeds and Grey's Anatomy and earned a Golden Globe nomination and a BAFTA award for her work on the BBC series Viva Blackpool. In a June 2009 entry on her official blog titled "A New Start", Miley said she had "always been a fan of Nicholas Sparks" and that she had been waiting to do a production separate from the Hannah Montana franchise "for a long time", but had not found the time to do so due to her tv show, music, tours, and Hannah Montana: The Movie. In order to film The Last Song, Miley's contract for season four of Hannah Montana included an extra long hiatus.
Miley chose the name "Ronnie" for her character in honor of her grandfather, Ron Cyrus, who died in 2006. The character had first been named "Kirby" by Sparks and later changed to "Hilary" by the studio before Sparks offered Cyrus the chance to name her. Sparks altered Cyrus's choice to be short for "Veronica", but the character refers to herself as Ronnie throughout the novel. Although Ronnie was created specifically for Cyrus, Sparks says he imagined Cyrus in the role "only a little" during the writing process and that her future portrayal bore no influence on his writing. Upon completion of the screenplay, Sparks was concerned that Cyrus would not be able to successfully execute the role: "The first thing I thought when I finished the screenplay was, wow, I hope she can do this, this is a tough role because I'm bringing you through a whole gamut of emotion and you're just a 16-year-old girl who's done the Disney Channel. Are you able to do this as an actress?" However, after visiting the set and watching Cyrus film, Sparks' worries abated. To play the New York teen, Cyrus worked with a dialect coach to lose her Southern accent[41] and learned to play classical piano.[6] After she completed filming, Cyrus said that in a case of life imitating art, she had matured and "changed a lot" over the course of her summer in Georgia, similar to the way Ronnie does in the film. "Showing this movie, I feel like I'm really showing a part of my growth as a person as well. So I'm really excited for people to see it."
Due to the conflicting personalities of his protagonist couple, Sparks faced difficulty in finding a vehicle that would draw Will and Ronnie to spend time together. “It had to be during the summer, she [Ronnie] had to be new in town, and whatever happened had to start in June and end in August. Because you always want a conclusion,” said Sparks of his requirements. He mentioned summer camp or a summer job as typical vehicles used in books, but dismissed them as unoriginal and boring. “So it’s got to be original, it’s got to be interesting, and at the same time it’s got to be universal, that you feel like it could happen to anybody.” Sparks eventually chose to have Will and Ronnie bond over a Loggerhead Sea Turtle nest, knowing that Loggerhead eggs often hatch in August. The scene of the hatching nest took place during the first week of August and involved 26 live Loggerhead Sea Turtle hatchlings. Sea turtle hatchlings have an innate sense to head toward the ocean water as soon as they are born, so scenes of the nest hatching had to be taken swiftly. Said Mike Dodd of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the biologist who supervised the scene, the hatchlings "did all they know how to do: They crawled down to the water and swam off." Sparks told an interviewer he suspected filmmakers would digitally add more turtles to the scene. At the time of filming, the Loggerhead Sea Turtle was listed as a threatened species. The environmentally friendly theme was an added bonus to Tybee Island, which was then promoting ecotourism.
The director's cut was presented to the studio on October 1, 2009.[81] The Motion Picture Association of America reviewed the film and issued it a PG rating for "thematic material, some violence, sensuality and mild language" three weeks later. The film's premiere will be held in Los Angeles, California on March 25, 2010.
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