The film features actors Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort in lead roles. PHOTO: FILE
In a summer of blockbusters with superheroes, The Fault in Our Stars, a film adaptation of John Green’s bestseller, is a heart-wrenching story of young love, which has the potential to become a box-office hit.
Green’s 2012 young adult novel has sold 10.7 million copies worldwide, providing a built-in fan base for the film that opened on Friday in United States theatres. The film is expected to bring in $36 million in US and Canadian ticket sales during its opening weekend, according to boxoffice.com.
The 36-year-old prize-winning author has been tweeting about the film to his 2.47 million followers. According to online ticket-seller Fandango, it is the biggest pre-selling romantic drama in the website’s 14-year history.
The Fault in Our Stars, the title based on a Shakespeare quote, features Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort who last appeared together in the dystopian thriller Divergent. “It is a movie that celebrates life and is incredibly hopeful,” Woodley, 22, said in an interview. “It is about falling in love for the first time and the beauty of being in love along with the trials and tribulations and glory that come with it.”
Woodley (Hazel) and Elgort (Augustus) play smart, witty teenagers who begin a romance after meeting at a cancer support group. “I fell in love with the story and the relationship between Augustus and Hazel,” said Woodley. “I also loved that, at the age of 16, Hazel understood that you don’t need to live a long life to lead a meaningful life.”
Although cancer is the backdrop, Elgort said, it is not the focus of the story. “What it does do is put a clock on things, which makes things interesting because I think it allows both characters to live in the moment,” the 20 year old explained.
For director Josh Boone, the film was always about two young people in love. “To me, it just seems like I hadn’t seen a movie like this before, done this way and with characters like this. I just thought it was a fascinating backdrop to talk about illness and death and life and family,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2014.
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