'Looking For Alaska' Movie Probably Won't Happen

It's been over a decade since we first read John Green's first novel — but the Looking for Alaska movie has still not materialized. Fans have been on an emotional rollercoaster over the last few years, as rumors about a Looking for Alaska movie have been flying back and forth. There was even speculation that Cara Delevingne or Anya Taylor-Joy could play Alaska in the movie — but sadly, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. In fact, according to John Green's recent tweets, the whole movie might be a bust.

The first John Green novel to grace our screens was the tear-jerking The Fault in our Stars, which had cinema-goers weeping over the tragic love story between two teenagers. Shortly afterwards followed the quirky Paper Towns, which subverted the manic pixie dream girl trope by starring Cara Delevingne as a mysterious girl-next-door who turns out not to be the main character's ideal girl after all. Fans of John Green have long pinned their hopes on the Printz Award-winning Looking for Alaska being the next to make it to the big screen — but their hopes are about to be crushed.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, John Green revealed that he sold the film rights back in 2005, and now has no control over them. Currently, Paramount has no plans to make the movie — but are refusing to sell back the rights. Hmph.

Fans will be devastated, but John Green isn't too heartbroken. A few years ago, he wrote on his Tumblr that he finds "the process of how movies get made horrifying and reprehensible." He also explained how glad he was that Looking for Alaska "still feels like a book that people discover." If a movie was made, "readers would inevitably lose some of the connection they feel to the story" — and for that reason, Green said he was "lucky that Looking for Alaska lives solely as scratches on a page."

While the lack of a movie in the works is very disappointing, those are some pretty wise words from John Green. I guess it's time to read the book again!