I just finished the audiobook of Kazuo Ishiguro‘s novel Never Let Me Go and it was beautiful. The sci-fi aspect is very, very subtle so if you are expecting another genre masterpiece from Sunshine writer Alex Garland (who co-wrote this screenplay), you may be disappointed. But, it turned out to be a vibrantly captured story of friendship amongst three people, played by Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield.

Now the official site for One Hour Photo director Mark Romanek‘s next film has launched and we get separate posters for each of our main characters. You can check them out below and the film also stars Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins, Nathalie Richard and Andrea Riseborough. Read the full story

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Nicholas Winding Refn‘s actioner (which he calls a “romance”) is looking better and better. It started with Ryan Gosling in the nameless lead role, then Bryan Cranston jumped in the passenger seat months later. Now we have Academy Award-nominee Carey Mulligan in the car too. [THR]

Based on James Sallis‘ novel of the same name, the story revolves around a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for heists. He meets a woman, her son and her man, the latter offering him a getaway job that’s crucial to the central narative.

I’ve read the book and was not a fan. It’s small, fast and lacks much detail. The “driver” is about as descriptive as his character name and the plot is no more original. The writing reads like cheap James Ellroy in its best moments.

That said, Refn as proven himself a visually ambitious director and one who (presumably) let’s his talent “go.” Hopefully this freedom plus Gosling, Cranston and Mulligan’s presence will save what will most likely be a weak screenplay.

Have you read Sallis’ work? Watched Refn’s?

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Fox Searchlight has premiered the first poster for One Hour Photo director Mark Romanek‘s upcoming drama Never Let Me Go. One of the first big Oscar contenders of the year, the film is written by 28 Days Later and Sunshine‘s Alex Garland based upon Kazuo Ishiguro‘s novel and stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield, Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins, Nathalie Richard and Andrea Riseborough. Cinematography is by Adam Kimmel (Capote, Lars and the Real Girl). Check out the poster below. Read the full story

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The Daily Mail has confirmed Carey Mulligan’s involvement in Sam Mendes’ adaptation of Ian McEwan’s best selling book On Chesil Beach, reporting that she will undergo some pre-production training for her starring role as Florence Ponting:

Carey Mulligan will be taking violin lessons so she can be note perfect to play the heroine in the film of Ian McEwan’s story of sex in England before the sexual revolution.

The story will follow the honeymoon, specifically the wedding night of a young, educated couple, both virgins and living ‘in a time when a conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible’. Florence’s marriage to Edward Mayhew (and frustrations in the consummation of their Chesil Beach honeymoon) is used as a study on the sexual and social geography of pre-revolution 1962 England.

Edward Mayhew has yet to be cast but auditions are underway:

Mendes, his partners at Neal Street Productions and Focus Features are studying screen tests featuring a handful of British actors who could play Edward, a graduate historian, who is more a ‘blokey-bloke’, as someone described him, rather than a pretty boy.

Having read On Chesil Beach, it is clear that the novella won’t be easy to adapt for screen with much of the narrative absorbed in a stream of consciousness recount of memories that could disturb the pacing of the film and disrupt the development of a plot. However with McEwan behind the script the film may benefit from any changes that the author himself makes to adapt his story for screen. With Mulligan suitably in the starring role, perhaps On Chesil Beach will be 2011′s Atonement.

Shooting will take place in the South of England and central London this September on the Neal Street Productions and Focus Features production, with BBC Films potentially joining.

What do you think of Carey Mulligan being cast in On Chesil Beach?

/Film is reporting that three films have seen their release dates get bumped up. The first one, the M. Night Shyamalan-produced thriller The Night Chronicles: Devil, will be released on September 17th of this year, instead of its previously-announced February 11th, 2011 release date. The film, which is directed by Drew Dowdle and John Erick Dowdle (The Dry Spell, Quarantine), will follow a group of people in an elevator who realize that the devil is among them.

The next film is the highly-anticipated adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro‘s celebrated novel Never Let Me Go. The release date of this potential Oscar contender from Fox Searchlight has been moved up a couple of weekends to September 15th of this year. (The previous date was October 1st.) The film is also generating buzz because of its notable cast, which includes Carey Mulligan (An Education), Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), Sally Hawkins, and Charlotte Rampling.

The third and final film is Catherine Hardwicke‘s (Thirteen, Twilight) Red Riding Hood, which will be based on a script from David Johnson (Orphan). The cast includes Gary Oldman (The Book of Eli), Amanda Seyfried (Letters to Juliet), Julie Christie, and Lukas Haas (Inception). Originally scheduled for an April 22nd, 2011 release, the film has been moved up a little over a month to March 11th, 2011.

Which of these three films are you most looking forward to?

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The much-anticipated next film by Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) finally has a trailer. The drama sci-fi is based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro and stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield, Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins, Nathalie Richard and Andrea Riseborough. With a stellar cast, script by Alex Garland (Sunshine) and excellent cinematography by Adam Kimmel (Capote, Lars and the Real Girl) I couldn’t be more excited to see this. Check out the trailer below via Apple. Read the full story

It’s been a rollercoaster 12 months for Sam Mendes. Alright, a rollercoaster 18 months. Revolutionary Road, his best film to date, was received to lukewarm, cautious reviews and then, six short months later, his comedic change of pace, Away We Go, failed at the box office and did little more than earn a small core of loyal indie enthusiasts. His marriage to the ever-beautiful, ever-talented Kate Winslet ended and his moment as a studio director (James Bond 23) burned along with MGM.

So it feels only appropriate that Mendes’ next potential project is an adaptation of a novel by Ian McEwan (Atonement), a British writer whose prose is so honest, so brutal and so penetrating that it’s hard to know if you’re crying because of the diction or the content. Or both.

On Chesil Beach, McEwan’s 2007 novel, explores the psyche of two newlywed virgins and their apprehensiveness about sticking things into other things and how well they’ll both do whatever it is they’re supposed to do. The novel is based on McEwan’s wonderful short story of the same name, featured in The New Yorker in late 2006.

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David Fincher‘s adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo has a release date set for December 2011 the Times is reporting [via ThePlaylist]. Though it has been out there for a while, this confirms that Fincher is tied to the project and Sony looks to be moving forward. Read the full story

Short, but exciting news, by way of director Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo). The man’s new film, Never Let Me Go, written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later…, Sunshine) and starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield, has a release date: October 1st, 2010.

Romanek announced as much on his Twitter account:

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Geoffrey Fletcher, Oscar winner for penning Precious, is set to make his directorial debut this summer with the black-comedy Violet And Daisy. Saoirse Ronan and Carey Mulligan, who will make a stunning and talented combination, are attached to the lead roles. Read the full story