By Anna Wilczek

It’s been 26 years since audiences fell in love with Henry Thomas as Elliot in Steven Spielberg’s most personal picture, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial. Since then Thomas has had to settle for supporting roles in films such as Gangs Of New York (Scorsese) and All the Pretty Horses (Zwick), never quite able to repeat his success as a child star.

Fans will therefore be pleased to hear that he has recently been cast in the movie version of bestselling author Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John. The story follows the rebellious and titular John (Channing Tatum) as he drops out of school and enlists in the army, falling in love with the girl of his dreams, Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) in the process. After 9/11, John feels a duty to re-enlist but when he returns from fighting he finds Savannah has fallen in love with another man, who will be played by Thomas. Sparks is also the man responsible for penning tear-jerkers The Notebook and A Walk to Remember, so it seems likely that Dear John will follow suit.

The film is to be directed by Lasse Hallstrom, whose previous credits include What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and Chocolat. One can only hope that Dear John matches the quality of his previous directorial outings.

Sources: Empire