Never Let Me Go is headed to the screen—again.
Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel is being developed as a television series for FX, Variety reports. The book was previously adapted as a movie in 2010.
Ishiguro’s novel, published in 2005 by Knopf, follows a group of students at a boarding school for clones who are being raised to be organ donors. The book was a finalist for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and received a starred review from Kirkus. A reviewer called it “a masterpiece of craftsmanship that offers an unparalleled emotional experience.”
Starring in the new series will be Viola Prettejohn (The Nevers), Tracey Ullman (Into the Woods), Kelly Macdonald (No Country for Old Men), Aiysha Hart (A Discovery of Witches), and Edward Holcroft (Alias Grace).
The 2010 film adaptation of the novel, directed by Mark Romanek and starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield, was popular with critics and earned several British Independent Film Award nominations.
The pilot episode of the FX series was written by Melissa Iqbal (The Nevers), who will executive produce with a team that includes Ishiguro and Alex Garland, who wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation.
Gina Balian, the president of FX Entertainment, said the network was “honored” to develop the show.
“Never Let Me Go is a modern science fiction classic that Melissa Iqbal and the creative team have brilliantly adapted for FX as a drama exploring timely and unsettling themes on life and the ethics of technology,” Balian said.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
