Summit sent out a press release announcing Catherine Hardwicke will return to the studio to direct If I Stay. Hardwicke directed Twilight for Summit which went on to make $191 million at the domestic box-office, but Hardwicke was not asked back to direct the sequel New Moon as Chris Weitz replaced her, which led most to believe there were some fences that needed be mended. Well, I guess you can consider the situation resolved.
The film will be based on Gayle Forman’s novel of the same name which will be published spring of 2009 by Dutton Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group. If I Stay is the story of the gifted classical musician Mia and her boyfriend, Adam, an up and coming indie-rock star. Torn between two paths in life, her art or her relationship, Mia is forced to make an even starker choice between life and death when she is caught in a fatal car accident with her family one snowy morning in Oregon.
Summit’s President of Production, Erik Feig, praised Hardwicke up and down in the release saying, “When we were thinking of the perfect director to capture the emotion, grace, and passion of this beautiful book, one filmmaker became the clear and only choice: Catherine Hardwicke. Summit and Catherine have had enormous success working together on Twilight and we cannot wait to bring If I Stay to vivid life together as well.”
There is no word on a writer or a production schedule. Hardwicke also recently signed on to direct Maximum Ride for Columbia Pictures based on a five-volume series of stories by James Patterson. There is no information leading me to assume which project she will tackle first.
