Sometimes
you make choices and sometimes they make you. For reserved high
school cellist Mia, it comes in an instant. One snowy drive, one
horrific accident, and she is forced to make a choice only she can
make, one that will make this day Mia’s defining day.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. |
That
is the storyline of New Line Cinema's “If I Stay,” director R.J.
Cutler’s adaptation the New York Times best-selling novel by Gayle
Forman. Forman’s book has gripped Young Adult readers around the
world with its enthralling love story and its unflinching look at
what one young girl would do in the face of a life or death crisis
that suspends her between this world and the next and presents her
with an impossible choice…to stay or go?
“I
read it in one sitting and it shattered me,” says director R.J.
Cutler. His big screen adaptation marks the documentary filmmaker’s
motion picture debut. “The central premise—we are whom we
love—was so evocative, so moving, I knew I had to translate the
profound connection I had with those pages to film.”
The
book’s global fan base includes producer Alison Greenspan, who read
the galleys of Forman’s novel before it was even printed. Greenspan
was equally engaged by Mia’s conflict and relationships. “I was
captivated by Gayle’s voice, and how true it was to the young
experience of grappling with love: family love, romantic love and
love of self. It really spoke to my heart,” she offers.
She
was also completely taken with Cutler’s vision, which he revealed
in a visual presentation, complete with a CD reflecting the detailed
musical palette for the world revolving around star-crossed
musicians.
“I
didn’t just see the film when I read the book, I heard it,” says
Cutler. “It was very clear to me.”
Greenspan
was familiar with Cutler’s thought-provoking and critically
acclaimed documentaries that covered pop culture from politics to
fashion. She followed an instinct that the combination of Forman’s
material and Cutler’s inherent understanding of it was the start of
something special.
Capturing
the spirit of the popular book in a script was a key element.
Although screenwriter Shauna Cross’s repertoire had been
predominantly edgy comedies, her regard for the book and her take on
it was exciting to the filmmakers.
“There
was a great alchemy between her hip, vibrant voice and the
heartrending nature of Gayle’s,” says Greenspan. “The script
is touching and sentimental, but still grounded in reality, and
that’s what Shauna brought to the table.”
The
producer also made a decision early on to keep Forman closely
involved. Cross enjoyed the collaborative process with the author,
noting, “The novel has so many layers—it’s funny and cool and
heavy and uplifting. I wanted to preserve what the fans fell in love
with in the first place. You have to modify things a little, but the
film is still Gayle’s world and has Gayle’s Mia; it’s her Adam,
parents and friends.”
The
pairing of styles proved fruitful. Forman, who also serves as
executive producer, attests, “This is material I know intimately
and characters that have lived in my mind for years, so, as I read
the screenplay or watched on set, and got that twist in my gut I
knew, for me, the book’s emotional content had successfully made
the transition to screen.
“It’s
been a real labor of love, I think, by a remarkable team,” she goes
on. “Alison has been a champion and the moment I met R.J. I knew he
saw it. He completely got the music, visuals, love story, and the
characters. The cast is incredible too. It’s really the full
package and I think the readers will be happy.”
Cutler
adds, “Regardless of whether or not you’ve read the book, ‘If I
Stay’ is a love story that takes an emotional journey exploring a
fundamental truth: fate may have a hand in defining us, but so does
love. And the choices we make because of that love can alter
everything.”
In
“If I Stay,” Mia Hall (Chloe Grace Moretz) thought the hardest
decision she would ever face would be whether to pursue her musical
dreams at Juilliard or follow a different path to be with the love of
her life, Adam (Jamie Blackley). But what should have been a
carefree family drive changes everything in an instant, and now her
own life hangs in the balance. Caught between life and death for one
revealing day, Mia has only one decision left, which will not only
decide her future but her ultimate fate.
Opening
across the Philippines on September 3, 2014, “If I Stay” is
distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Entertainment Company.
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