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Chloe Moretz to Lead Young Adult Adaptation 'If I Stay' from R.J. Cutler

by Ethan Anderton
January 24, 2013
Source: Variety

Audiences probably best know director R.J. Cutler for his work on documentaries like The September Issue, or TV shows like "The Freshman Diaries" and most recently a couple episodes of "Nashville." Now the filmmaker has lined up his first narrative feature film as Variety reports Cutler is wrapping up a deal to direct the adaptation of If I Stay, based on Gayle Forman's novel of the same name. In addition, Chloe Moretz (Let Me In, Hugo) is slated to star in the story that follows a relationship between a young classical musician (Moretz) and her indie rock boyfriend. Hopefully it's a more sophisticated young adult romance.

For a more detailed rundown, here's the official synopsis for the book:

While out on a drive with her family, 17-year-old Mia is suddenly separated from her body and forced to watch the aftermath of the accident that kills her parents and gravely injures her and her younger brother. Far from supernatural, this shift in perspective will be readily accepted by readers as Mia reminisces about significant events and people in her life while her body lies in a coma.

Alternating between the past and the present, she reveals the details and complexities of her relationships with family and friends, including the unlikely romance with her punk-rock boyfriend, Adam. An accomplished musician herself, Mia is torn between pursuing her love for music at Julliard and a future with Adam in Oregon. However, she must first choose between fighting to survive and giving in to the resulting sadness and despair over all she has lost.

Moretz has the potential to bring a lot of gravitas to a story that sounds like it's being made for the teen romance crowd (after all it's from Summit Entertainment, the company behind The Twilight Saga). But maybe the music angle will have something that interests everyone. If anything, it will be interesting to see how Cutler adapts to the non-documentary feature world. Cutler currently has his doc The World According to Dick Cheney here at Sundance, so we might see it in these last few days at the festival. Stay tuned for our Sundance coverage and updates on this story.

Filed under Casting, Movie News

From around the web:

Marcus

She has such a bright future ahead of her.
http://www.facebook.com/jen.rivera.92560 Jen Rivera

Anything from Summit sucks.
http://www.facebook.com/danielvutran Daniel Vu Tran

gahd she so beautiful.. lol.
Cody W

Unfortunately I see her getting destroyed by paparazzi and tabloids etc when she hits her 20s, happens to every damn child star.
sara

I read this book a while back, it was actually very good. The bond with her family was the touching part of the book. She could do great with this part, I'm in.
Heather

She's a great actress and all but it seems like she's been getting every role that requires a young teen girl. I know all this is probably good for her career, but I just wish she would slow down. This girl is going to become a mess if she keeps rushing everything, she needs to take a break once in awhile. Besides I'd like to see some new faces, let other amazing young actresses have a try.