Knightley Signs On for ‘The Island 2: Never Let Me Go’

Posted by Dr. Cole Abaius (cole.abaius@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 2, 2009

Keira Knightley signs on for Never Let Me Go

Alright, so I’m obviously joking a little with the headline, and usually when I do that I get in trouble or I receive hate mail from people who really love some upcoming movie that hasn’t been made yet. Still, when a logling describes a film as the story of a group of three friends at boarding school who realize that they are actually clones being bred specifically for organ compatibility, it’s tough not to do a double take and look around to see if everyone else forgot about The Island or if people are actively blocking it out of their memory because of how awful it was.

Luckily, this movie will be so much better.

According to Variety, Keira Knightley has joined the cast of the science fiction flick Never Let Me Go. The reason I can’t be all that negative is that it’s being directed by Mark Romanek (who will hopefully be able to recreate the creep-factor of his One Hour Photo) and it’s written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine).

So the team behind this obviously knows what it’s doing. Plus, the film is an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel of the same name – one that was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke award in 2005 and worked its way onto several Best Of lists the year it was released. Beyond the too-simple logline, the story is one of deeply intimate relationships for a group of people who live specifically to die. As you might guess, it’s not exactly a happy story.

I think this is the best news I’ve heard all week. Ishiguro is certainly an incredible author, Garland is a fantastic screenwriter (and the script itself made Britain’s version of the blacklist last year), Romanek might be an x-factor but it’s clear he’s got directing chops when he wants to use them. Plus, it’s pretty fantastic that they got a capable actress for the film. All around good news for thriller and sci-fi fans alike. And fans of dystopian Britain. You know who you are.

What do you think?

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_Christopher_M

sounds good to me...I really liked One Hour Photo should make for an interesting movie

CaptainReg0981

We'll see.

Jay DV

Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go was a great book and I'm happy it's getting the film treatment. However, why did they have to associate it with "The Island"? The first movie shares some fairly similar themes with Ishiguro's book, but I think they're doing it a huge disservice by connecting it with that mediocre movie.

I always thought The Island shared subject matter with some Aldous Huxley books (particularly Brave New World and ironically Huxley's own The Island), but it seems Hollywood is poisoning not only his great works, but now Ishiguro's.

Knightley is a fine actress. Hope for the best, I guess.

Elizabeth

Stop it, stop it, stop it. This is the third film blog that has said Never Let Me Go is just like The Island.

They have one single superficial quality in common, in that they have clones in them. Otherwise they couldn't be more different. Is E.T. the same film as Independence Day because they both have Aliens? No.

It takes 2.5 seconds to read a summary of the novel, and maybe two days to read the novel to know they're nothing alike. Why is that the last thing anybody wants to do? Is it because as a society we're terrified of different and new things so we have to force them to become something we're familiar with? Everything has to be just like something we already liked for us to like it?

Or is it because one person said it and every other blog is just regurgitating the same stuff over and over again instead of actually coming up with it's own topic and tagline?

Besides the fact that it's depressing that nobody has read the book. It's a fantastic book.

Tom Lincoln

I thought the Island was one of Michael Bay's better films. I could actually tolerate it, unlike that terrible Transformers movie.

Rob_Hunter

Good for you Elizabeth. And shame on you Cole.

I haven't read the book myself, are the chase scenes as good as the one with the cycles in The Island?

Jules

... I love this book to death. And I hate Keira Knightley to death.

Goddamn you, movie industry. What, are they going to cast Brad Pitt as Tommy? Megan Fox as Ruth? Ew.

Please please please surprise me, Keira. Try to make me a fan. Go ahead, because if you screw this up, I will personally rip out your hair.

Knightley Signs On for ‘The Island 2: Never Let Me Go’

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