--- title: 'Nicholas Sparks’ Counting Miracles Names Peanut Butter Falcon Director' type: 'blog post' section: 'Away From Set' format: 'Editorial feature' standfirst: 'Tyler Nilson will write and direct Amazon MGM’s adaptation, with Alan Ritchson starring as an Army Ranger searching for the father he never knew. The film has no release date yet, but its deal puts a filmmaker known for a small, actor-led hit inside a much larger studio production.' author: 'Marcus Reid' published: '2026-09-13' updated: '2026-09-13' about_people: - 'Nicholas Sparks' - 'Alan Ritchson' tags: - 'Counting Miracles movie director Tyler Nilson' - 'Alan Ritchson Nicholas Sparks film' - 'Peanut Butter Falcon director new movie' - 'Amazon MGM Counting Miracles cast' - 'Nicholas Sparks next movie adaptation' sources: - 'https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/nicholas-sparks-counting-miracles-movie-sets-peanut-butter-falcon-director/ar-AA2bYJCx' - 'https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/reacher-star-alan-ritchson-nicholas-203950556.html' canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/blog/nicholas-sparks-counting-miracles-names-peanut-butter-falcon-director' publisher: 'CinePixo' --- # Nicholas Sparks’ Counting Miracles Names Peanut Butter Falcon Director *Tyler Nilson will write and direct Amazon MGM’s adaptation, with Alan Ritchson starring as an Army Ranger searching for the father he never knew. The film has no release date yet, but its deal puts a filmmaker known for a small, actor-led hit inside a much larger studio production.* By Marcus Reid, 2026-09-13 · Away From Set Tyler Nilson is taking the wheel on *Counting Miracles*, Amazon MGM Studios’ adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel, Variety reported on Sept. 10, 2026. Nilson will write and direct the film, with *Reacher* star Alan Ritchson set to play Tanner Hughes, an Army Ranger who travels across the country helping families of fallen soldiers. The news matters because Nilson arrives with *The Peanut Butter Falcon*, a warm, scruffy independent film that found a wide audience, while Ritchson is stepping into a Sparks story built around grief, family and a man trying to locate the part of himself he has never known. ## Tyler Nilson moves from The Peanut Butter Falcon to Nicholas Sparks Nilson co-wrote and co-directed *The Peanut Butter Falcon* with Michael Schwartz. The 2019 film starred Shia LaBeouf, Dakota Johnson and Zack Gottsagen, won the Audience Award at SXSW and became that year’s highest-grossing independent release, according to the report. Nilson later directed *Los Frikis*, which he also co-wrote with Schwartz. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller produced that 2024 film. That résumé gives *Counting Miracles* a director who has worked with actors carrying intimate, sometimes bruised stories. It does not tell us what the new movie will look like. The film is still being assembled, and no release date has been announced. What it does offer is a reason for hope: Nilson has already shown an interest in characters who are easy to underestimate and difficult to leave behind. ![Alan Ritchson at TIFF 2025.](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/fae8aadc-d1fc-435f-89d6-8a3ee0d8b959.webp) *Photo: Danielle G. Campbell · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alan_Ritchson_at_TIFF_2025.jpg)* ## Alan Ritchson plays an Army Ranger looking for his father Ritchson’s Tanner Hughes begins with a job that keeps him close to other people’s losses. He supports the families of soldiers who died, then receives a mysterious letter that sends him searching for the father he never knew. The search brings Tanner to a small town, where he meets a doctor and a single mother of two. A romance grows, and it pulls him toward the life of a reclusive older man with a haunting past. The relationships force Tanner to confront his identity and ask where he belongs. That is a lot to place on one actor’s shoulders. Ritchson has the physical authority of an action star through *Reacher*, but this part asks him to make absence visible: the missing parent, the unfamiliar home, the quiet fear that a new family might not have room for him. The report does not say how the film will balance the Army material with the romance or the family drama. Those choices will shape the role as much as the casting does. ![Alan Ritchson at TIFF 2025.](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/df1080ac-cd0b-4d21-9f5c-45f483be3b11.webp) ![Alan Ritchson speaking at an event in Phoenix, Arizona.](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/48d8acbe-2f0e-49bb-a5f7-26557a761d2a.webp) *Photos: Danielle G. Campbell · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alan_Ritchson_at_TIFF_2025_(cropped).jpg); Gage Skidmore · [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alan_Ritchson_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg)* ## The Amazon MGM deals behind Counting Miracles Ritchson will produce the movie through his Dancing Skeleton banner. Denise Di Novi and Margaret French Isaac will produce for Di Novi Pictures, with Theresa Park also producing. Dancing Skeleton and Di Novi Pictures both have first-look film deals with Amazon MGM Studios. Ritchson also has a three-picture acting deal with the studio. That arrangement gives Amazon MGM a continuing relationship with its *Reacher* lead, while giving Ritchson a producing position on a project whose central role was written to carry the emotional weight. For the people making the film, the deal is about more than a single casting announcement: it links the star, his company and the studio’s development plans. The money trail still has limits in public. The reports name the producers and the first-look agreements, but they do not disclose the budget, Ritchson’s compensation or how Amazon MGM will release the picture. Counting Miracles has no release date, so the practical shape of that partnership remains unknown. ![Alan Ritchson speaking with attendees at the 2023 Phoenix Fan Fusion at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona.](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/0345f88f-a6f0-4b09-9f0c-aafbee79abc8.webp) *Photo: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America · [CC BY-SA 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alan_Ritchson_(52958325124).jpg)* ## Nicholas Sparks’ next screen adaptation is already scheduled Sparks has written novels adapted into *The Notebook*, *Dear John* and *Safe Haven*. His films have collectively grossed more than $750 million worldwide, according to the report. That history explains why Amazon MGM is building a new film around one of his books, but it does not guarantee a particular result for *Counting Miracles*. The next Sparks adaptation on the calendar is *Remain*, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and scheduled for Feb. 5, 2027. *Counting Miracles* is earlier in the process: its director is now set, its lead is attached and its producers are named. The rest of the picture will come later. For now, the clearest promise is the pairing. Nilson brings the memory of a modest film that let its actors breathe. Ritchson brings a soldier walking toward a family history he cannot read yet. Somewhere between those two men is Tanner Hughes, holding a letter and heading for the town where his life may finally become his own. ## How this piece was made **Format:** Editorial feature ## In this piece - [Nicholas Sparks](https://cinepixo.com/people/nicholas-sparks) - [Alan Ritchson](https://cinepixo.com/people/alan-ritchson) ## Sources - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/nicholas-sparks-counting-miracles-movie-sets-peanut-butter-falcon-director/ar-AA2bYJCx - https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/reacher-star-alan-ritchson-nicholas-203950556.html Every factual claim above is drawn from these. The reading of them is ours. Source: https://cinepixo.com/blog/nicholas-sparks-counting-miracles-names-peanut-butter-falcon-director Written for CinePixo. Nothing on this page is imported prose.