 Julian Jarrold 's and Sam Mendes ' producer approached Christopher Priest for an adaptation of his novel The Prestige . Priest was impressed with Nolan 's films Following and Memento , and subsequently , producer Valerie Dean brought the book to Nolan 's attention . In October 2000 , Nolan traveled to the United Kingdom to publicize Memento , as Newmarket Films was having difficulty finding a United States distributor . While in London , Nolan read Priest 's book and shared the story with his brother while walking around in Highgate ( a location later featured in the scene where Angier ransoms Borden 's ingénieur in Highgate Cemetery ) . The development process for The Prestige began as a reversal of their earlier collaboration : Jonathan Nolan had pitched his initial story for Memento to his brother during a road trip . 
