Safe Haven ( film ) - wikipedia Safe Haven ( film ) Safe Haven Theatrical release poster Directed by Lasse Hallström Produced by Marty Bowen Chad Freet Wyck Godfrey Ryan Kavanaugh Screenplay by Gage Lansky Dana Stevens Based on Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks Starring Josh Duhamel Julianne Hough Cobie Smulders David Lyons Music by Deborah Lurie Cinematography Terry Stacey Edited by Andrew Mondshein Production company Relativity Media Temple Hill Entertainment Distributed by Relativity Media Release date February 14, 2013 ( 2013 - 02 - 14 ) Running time 115 minutes Country United States Language English Budget US $28 million Box office US $97,594,140 Safe Haven is a 2013 American romance film starring Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel and Cobie Smulders. It was released theatrically in North America on February 14, 2013. The film was directed by Lasse Hallström, and is an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks ' 2010 novel Safe Haven. The film was originally set for a February 8 release. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 4.1 Box office 4.2 Critical reception 5 Accolades 6 Home media 7 References 8 External links Plot A terrified woman ( Julianne Hough ) flees her house in Boston, having been in the possession of a bloody knife. After taking shelter with a neighbor, she is shown moments later at the bus station trying to flee town. She buys a bus ticket with her hair now cropped and bleached and stops in the small town of Southport, North Carolina. At the general store, she introduces herself as Katie Feldman. After acquiring a job as a waitress and renting a small house on the edge of town, Katie befriends her neighbor, Jo ( Cobie Smulders ) and meets Alex Wheatley ( Josh Duhamel ), a widowed father of two young children, Josh, ( Noah Lomax ) who has a strained relationship with him, and Lexie, who operates the local general store. Alex soon gives Katie a bicycle so she wo n't have to walk. It 's not too long before Katie and Alex start a relationship, and she becomes like a mother to Josh and Lexie. Meanwhile, Kevin Tierney ( David Lyons ), a Boston police detective, prepares wanted posters for a woman named `` Erin '' which describe that she is wanted for first - degree murder. Alex sees Erin 's wanted poster in the police station and notices the picture bears a striking resemblance to Katie. He confronts Katie with the information, causing a huge fight. They break up, and Katie moves out of her house. As Katie is about to leave town, however, Alex intercepts her and says that he has fallen in love with her. Katie returns his love, and decides to stay in Southport. She tells Alex that she fled to Southport to escape her abusive and alcoholic husband. They got in a fight, and she stabbed him in self - defense before she fled south. Meanwhile, Kevin is suspended for creating the wanted posters, whereupon it is revealed that he is Katie 's ( Erin 's ) abusive and alcoholic husband. Enraged, he breaks into Katie 's former neighbor 's home back in Boston and finds the phone number to the Southport restaurant where Katie works. Arriving just in time for the town 's Fourth of July parade, a severely intoxicated Kevin sees Katie kissing Alex, which enrages him. That night, Katie has a dream that she is standing on the docks watching the fireworks when Jo comes up and tells Katie that `` he '' is here. Katie wakes up in the convenience store next to a sleeping Lexie when Kevin suddenly appears and confronts her, demanding that she go back with him. She refuses and tells him to leave. Kevin pulls a gun and pours gasoline all over the store, with the intent to burn it down. When he hesitates, Katie buys time by faking sympathy for him and agreeing to return home with him. When he lets his guard down, she pushes him into the water ; however, a firework spark lands on the gasoline, igniting a fire that engulfs the store. Alex sees the burning store, quickly makes his way across the harbor by boat, and saves Lexie. Meanwhile, Katie tries to fight off Kevin ; during the struggle, the gun goes off and kills Kevin, ridding her of him forever. In the aftermath of the fire, Alex recovers several letters which were written by his late wife Carly before she died. The letters were prepared ahead of time for memorable events such as Josh 's eighteenth birthday and Lexie 's wedding day. Alex gives Katie a letter with the words `` To Her '' on the envelope ; the letter thanks the recipient for making Alex happy. Enclosed with the letter is a photo of Alex 's late wife, whom Katie is astonished to discover was actually Jo. This means that Jo was Carly, in the form of an angel, who led Katie to her husband, Alex. Cast Josh Duhamel as Alex Wheatley, A widower who struggles to raise his two kids until he meets Katie. Julianne Hough as Erin Tierney / Katie Feldman, A young woman who flees her abusive husband and meets Alex. Cobie Smulders as Carly Jo, A woman who befriended Katie. David Lyons as Detective Kevin Tierney, and Katie 's abusive husband. Mimi Kirkland as Lexie Wheatley, Daughter of Alex and who befriended Katie Noah Lomax as Josh Wheatley, Son of Alex who has a rough and strained relationship with his father due to his mother 's death. Irene Ziegler as Mrs. Feldman Robin Mullins as Maddie Red West as Roger. This was West 's last film role before his death in July 2017 Juan Carlos Piedrahita as Detective Ramirez Cullen Moss as Deputy Bass Mike Pniewski as Lieutenant Robinson Production The film began principal photography on June 18, 2012 in Wilmington and Southport, North Carolina. Parts of it were filmed in Louisiana and the opening scene with Katie on the Coach America bus is on the Linn Cove Viaduct along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain in Linville, North Carolina. Reception Box office Safe Haven grossed US $71,349,120 in North America and US $26,245,020 in other territories for a worldwide total of US $97,594,140. In its opening weekend, the film grossed US $21,401,594, finishing third at the box office behind A Good Day to Die Hard ( US $24,834,845 ) and Identity Thief ( US $23,674,295 ). Critical reception Critical reaction for Safe Haven was largely negative. Peter Bradshaw, writing for The Guardian, called Safe Haven 's setting `` a sugary vision of small - town America that does not correspond with the real world at any point. '' Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film zero stars out of four, and concluded his review by stating : `` I hate Safe Haven. It 's a terrible thing to do to your Valentine. '' The film has a score of 34 on Metacritic, a `` generally unfavorable '' score, based on 33 reviews. At Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of 12 %, based on reviews from 137 critics. Accolades Award Recipient Result Ref ( s ) Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie : Romance Nominated Young Artist Awards Best Supporting Young Actress in a Feature Film Mimi Kirkland Nominated Home Media Safe Haven was released on DVD and Blu - ray on May 7, 2013. References Jump up ^ `` Deborah Lurie to Score Lasse Hallstrom 's ' Safe Haven ' ''. FilmMusicReporter.com. Jump up ^ `` SAFE HAVEN ( 12A ) ''. British Board of Film Classification. 2013 - 01 - 21. Retrieved 2013 - 01 - 21. ^ Jump up to : `` Safe Haven ( 2013 ) ''. Boxofficemojo.com. 2013 - 02 - 14. Retrieved 2013 - 02 - 28. Jump up ^ `` Safe Haven ( 2013 ) ''. Boxoffice.com. 2013 - 03 - 04. Retrieved 2013 - 06 - 01. Jump up ^ `` ' Turkeys ' Gets Date, ' Safe Haven ' Shifts ''. Deadline.com. Retrieved 2013 - 02 - 24. Jump up ^ `` Nicholas Sparks movie ' Safe Haven ' starts shooting in Wilmington ''. WWayTV3.com. Retrieved October 25, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Episode # 127 -- Safe Haven '', `` The Flop House '', 1 June 2013, Retrieved on 29 November 2014. Jump up ^ Sharkey, Betsy. `` Review : ' Safe Haven ' ca n't find refuge from a cheesy story '', `` LA Times '', 13 February 2013. Retrieved on 29 November 2014. Jump up ^ Holden, Stephen. `` Her Date Is a Single Dad ; His, a Possible Killer '', `` New York Times '', 13 February 2013. Retrieved on 29 November 2014. Jump up ^ Anderson, Melissa. `` Safe Haven : Unable to Ignite '', 13 February 2013. Retrieved on 29 November 2014. Jump up ^ Roeper, Richard. `` Safe Haven '', 12 February 2013. Retrieved on 29 November 2014. Jump up ^ Bradshaw, Peter. `` Safe Haven -- review '', `` The Guardian '', 28 February 2013, Retrieved on 29 November 2014. Jump up ^ Travers, Peter. `` Safe Haven '', `` Rolling Stone '', 14 February 2013, Retrieved on 29 November 2014. Jump up ^ `` Safe Haven Reviews '', `` Metacritic '', Retrieved on 29 November 2014. Jump up ^ `` Safe Haven ''. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 29 November 2014. Jump up ^ `` Complete list of Teen Choice 2013 Awards winners ''. Los Angeles Times. Tribune Publishing. August 11, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2015. Jump up ^ `` 35th Annual Young Artist Awards ''. Young Artist Awards. Retrieved April 14, 2014. External links Safe Haven on IMDb Safe Haven at the TCM Movie Database Safe Haven at AllMovie Safe Haven at Box Office Mojo Safe Haven at Rotten Tomatoes Films directed by Lasse Hallström A Guy and a Gal ( 1975 ) ABBA : The Movie ( 1977 ) Father to Be ( 1979 ) Tuppen ( 1981 ) Happy We ( 1983 ) My Life as a Dog ( 1985 ) The Children of Noisy Village ( 1986 ) More About the Children of Noisy Village ( 1987 ) Once Around ( 1991 ) What 's Eating Gilbert Grape ( 1993 ) Something to Talk About ( 1995 ) The Cider House Rules ( 1999 ) Chocolat ( 2000 ) The Shipping News ( 2001 ) An Unfinished Life ( 2005 ) Casanova ( 2005 ) The Hoax ( 2007 ) Hachi : A Dog 's Tale ( 2009 ) Dear John ( 2010 ) Salmon Fishing in the Yemen ( 2011 ) The Hypnotist ( 2012 ) Safe Haven ( 2013 ) The Hundred - Foot Journey ( 2014 ) A Dog 's Purpose ( 2017 ) The Nutcracker and the Four Realms ( 2018 ) Nicholas Sparks Novels The Notebook ( 1996 ) Message in a Bottle ( 1998 ) A Walk to Remember ( 1999 ) The Rescue ( 2000 ) A Bend in the Road ( 2001 ) Nights in Rodanthe ( 2002 ) The Guardian ( 2003 ) The Wedding ( 2003 ) True Believer ( 2005 ) At First Sight ( 2006 ) Dear John ( 2006 ) The Choice ( 2007 ) The Lucky One ( 2008 ) The Last Song ( 2009 ) Safe Haven ( 2010 ) The Best of Me ( 2011 ) The Longest Ride ( 2013 ) See Me ( 2015 ) Two by Two ( 2016 ) Non-fiction Wokini : A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self - Understanding ( 1990 ) Three Weeks with My Brother ( 2004 ) Film adaptations Message in a Bottle ( 1999 ) A Walk to Remember ( 2002 ) The Notebook ( 2004 ) Nights in Rodanthe ( 2008 ) Dear John ( 2010 ) The Last Song ( 2010 ) The Lucky One ( 2012 ) Safe Haven ( 2013 ) The Best of Me ( 2014 ) The Longest Ride ( 2015 ) The Choice ( 2016 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Safe_Haven_(film)&oldid=835356336 '' Categories : 2013 films English - language films 2010s romance films 2010s thriller films American films American romance films American thriller films Films about domestic violence Films about families Films about widowhood Films based on romance novels Films based on works by Nicholas Sparks Films directed by Lasse Hallström Films set in Boston Films set in North Carolina Films shot in North Carolina Relativity Media films Temple Hill Entertainment films Romantic thriller films Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from December 2016 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español فارسی Français 한국어 Հայերեն Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Русский Svenska Türkçe Українська 中文 11 more Edit links This page was last edited on 8 April 2018, at 05 : 55. 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Question: what is katie running from in safe haven
Answer: her abusive husband