HELMER LOOPS IN BOLD ‘TALES’

NEVER LET ME GO (2010)

Calling “Never Let Me Go” “one of my favorite novels,” Romanek says the project came out after “One Hour Photo” “did over $100 million in home video. I owe that job to Peter Rice, who greenlit ‘One Hour Photo.’ He introduced me to Alex Garland, Allon Reich and Andrew Macdonald when their director fell out. I had read the book and read it again so I had pretty deep knowledge of the book. And my interests dovetailed with three very smart guys whose only intention was to make the very best film possible.”

Romanek also credits Rice with locking in Carey Mulligan for the key role of Kathy. “We hadn’t found Kathy and we got a text from Peter who was in Sundance and he was watching ‘An Education.’ The movie wasn’t even over yet. We got a print sent over to England from Sundance and that was it.”