Summary
The Notebookis now 20 years old, and as popular and successful as it is, I’m actually quite relieved it never got a sequel. The 2000s saw a wide variety of romance movies – from adaptations to original movies, sometimes mixed with drama, comedy, or even sci-fi – and one of the most notable ones isThe Notebook. Based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks (author of many other romance/drama stories such asA Walk To Remember),The Notebookwas directed by Nick Cassavetes and was released in 2004.
The Notebooktells the story of Allie (Rachel McAdams) and Noah (Ryan Gosling), a young couple who fall in love in the 1940s, but as they come from different backgrounds and “social statuses”, their families and other things get in their way. Their story is read from a notebook in the present day by an elderly man named Duke (James Garner) to a fellow nursing home resident.The Notebookreceived mixed reactions from critics but was a huge box office success, and despite its legacy, it’s a huge relief that it never got any type of continuation.
The Notebook Ending Explained: Alternate Streaming Version, Noah & Allie’s Fate
Allie and Noah’s ending in The Notebook left a few questions unanswered, and the streaming version’s alternate ending only adds to the confusion.
2024 Marks The Notebook’s 20th Anniversary - How Its Legacy Holds Up
The Notebook Is One Of The Most Notable Romance Movies From The 2000s
Despite its many flaws,The Notebookhas become a cult classic and continues to be quite popular among fans of romance movies.
The Notebookhad its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival on June 17, 2025, and it was released in theaters on July 09, 2025, meaning it has officially turned 20 years old. Despite its many flaws,The Notebookhas become a cult classic and continues to be quite popular among fans of romance movies, which keeps solidifying its legacy in the genre.The Notebookhas a good mix of romance, drama, and hints of comedy, especially thanks to Noah, with his sometimes dark sense of humor, which makes him, Allie, and their relationship quite relatable, though not exactly healthy.
While many choose to focus on the love story and romantic parts ofThe Notebook(and that’s absolutely fine), as years go by,the flaws and red flags in Allie and Noah’s relationship keep being pointed out by the audience. This has inevitably made many fans change their minds aboutThe Notebook(and I most admit that I’m one of them, but I’m glad I saw the light), seeing it from a more objective perspective rather than being driven by the sweetest parts of it.
What doesn’t seem to have changed is the audience’s reaction to the most obscure and tragic part ofThe Notebook: the story of old Noah and Allie.Duke is later revealed to be Noah, and as Allie had dementia, he often read their own story to her in hopes she would remember him and their relationship.The Notebookhas gone from being considered one of the sweetest and most romantic movies of the 2000s to being seen as one of the most tragic, questionable, and dark love stories of the decade, but that hasn’t really affected its popularity – it’s simply a shift in perspective.
The Notebook Nearly Got A TV Sequel Show
The Notebook TV Show Would Have Continued Allie & Noah’s Story
The NotebookTV series was supposed to be a continuation of the movie, focusing on Noah and Allie’s courtship following the events of the film and in a post-WWII world.
It’s not uncommon for commercially successful and popular movies to get TV adaptations or continuations, andThe Notebookalmost went through that. In 2015, 11 years after the movie’s release, aTV series based onThe Notebookwas revealedto be in development by The CW.The NotebookTV series was supposed to be a continuation of the movie, focusing on Noah and Allie’s courtship following the events of the film and in a post-WWII world, but it’s unknown how far into their story it would have gone. Nicholas Sparks was set to produce the TV show, with Todd Graff writing the script.
In 2021,The Wrapreported thatThe NotebookTV show was struggling to find writers and so it was put on hold, but since then, there haven’t been any updates on it. However,The Notebookgot the musical treatment in 2024, opening on Broadway on March 14. Aside from the TV series, there haven’t been any sequel plans forThe Notebook, and I expect (and assume) it will continue that way.
What Happened To The Notebook TV Show?
There were plans announced for The Notebook to be adapted into a TV show, so why did it never come to fruition?
Why The Notebook Doesn’t Need a Sequel
The Notebook Wasn’t Made For More Than One Movie
The Notebook, both the novel and the movie gave Allie and Noah the closure they needed when they were young and when they were old.
Those plans forThe NotebookTV sequel were a big surprise to me, not because I wanted to know more about Allie and Noah post-movie, but because a sequel, in any shape or form, seems completely unnecessary to me.The Notebook, both the novel (which I admit to having read many moons ago) and the movie, gave Allie and Noah the closure they needed when they were young and when they were old: young Allie and Noah got back together, and old Allie and Noah got one final moment together before passing away in each other’s arms.
Is it cheesy? Yes. Is it fitting? Absolutely.Through old Allie and Noah,The Notebookreveals enough about what happened to thembetween getting back together and the present day, showing that they got married, had kids and grandkids, and grew old together. Following them post-reconciliation and pre-nursing home would have been completely unnecessary, as none of those events would have changed whatThe Notebookshowed and established.
Source:The Wrap.
The Notebook
Adapted from Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name, The Notebook is a romantic drama film that follows a couple who fall in love during the 1940s. Duke, an older man, recounts the story of two young lovers whose lives never lined up quite right to a fellow patient in his nursing home. Reading from the notebook pages, the movie keeps flashing from the present into the past to tell the story of the one that got away.
