With Rock of Ages crashing hard at the box office, pretty blond ingénue Julianne Hough still has a lot to prove when it comes to her standing as a leading lady. This Valentine's Day she'll get her second shot with Safe Haven. Based on the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name, this romantic drama has a solid start since Sparks' bestselling love stories tend to bring a dedicated audience to the theaters, translating into box office hits.
Hough stars as Katie Feldman, a young woman on the run from her past who finds a new home—or safe haven if you will—in the small North Carolina town of Southport. There, she meets and falls for Alex Wheatley, a handsome young widower and father of two, played by Josh Duhamel. The pair's blossoming romance makes Katie drop her guard, but then the past she fled from comes charging back, threatening to destroy her and her newfound happiness. Check out the trailer for Safe Haven below:
Producers snagged the rights to the novel Safe Haven more than a month before it hit stores, showing they're not only confident in the story but also in the author's brand of tearjerker romance. But with the trailer kicking off with cops chasing down his heroine, this Sparks' story seems to have a thriller aspect to it that might set it apart from its predecessors. For better or worse remains to be seen.
Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallström, who scored at the box office with his adaptation of Sparks' Dear John, directs Safe Haven; Leslie Bohem, creator of the 2002 sci-fi TV mini-series Taken, penned the adapted screenplay. Cobie Smulders and David Lyons co-star.
Safe Haven is slated to open on February 8th, 2013.
