FX Greenlights "Never Let Me Go" Series for Hulu

Kazuo Ishiguro's tearful sci-fi "Never Let Me Go" is heading to the small screen. FX has officially commissioned an adaptation of Ishiguro's novel, streaming exclusively on Hulu.

Published in 2005, 'Never Let Me Go' is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed novels by Ishiguro - a Nobel Prize-winning author also known for 'The Remains of the Day'. Set in Britain in the 90s, the book focuses on three childhood friends: Kathy, Tommy and Ruth. Raised at the mysterious boarding school in Hailsham, the three are clones created with the goal of growing up healthy and donating their organs to science. Resigned to their fate, the three grow close, but interpersonal conflicts between them lead to mistakes that haunt them for the rest of their short lives.

The novel was previously adapted into a 2010 film directed by Mark Romanek, with a screenplay by Alex Garland; Carey Mulligan, Kiera Knightley and Andrew Garfield starred as the main trio. Garland serves as executive producer on the new series, which has the same setup but apparently focuses on a completely different set of characters in a completely different type of story - whereas the original book was a slow-paced romantic tragedy, FX describes the show as a thriller.

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Viola Prettejohn leads the show as Thora, a teenage clone who escapes from her boarding school. Once in the outside world, she triggers events that will spark a revolution of the oppressed clones. The cast will also include Tracey Ullman, Kelly Macdonald, Aiysha Hart, Spike Fearn, Shaniqua Okwok, Gary Beadle, Kwami Odoom, Susan Brown, Keira Chanse and Edward Holcroft.

The pilot for "Never Let Me Go" was written by Melissa Iqbal, who also presents, and directed by Marc Munden. The two executive producers along with Ishiguro, Garland and Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich and Maria Fleischer of DNA Productions. DNA previously worked with Garland, best known for his feature films "Ex-Machina" and this year's "Men," on his 2020 FX miniseries on Hulu "Devs." FX Productions and Searchlight Television are also producing.

"Never Let Me Go is a modern sci-fi classic that Melissa Iqbal and the creative team brilliantly adapted for FX as a drama exploring current and disturbing themes about life and the ethics of technology "said Gina Balian, President of FX Entertainment.

Ishiguro's most recent novel, "Klara and the Sun," was published last year to critical acclaim. The author also wrote the screenplay for this year's "Living," an adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's "Ikiru" starring Bill Nighy.

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