Here is the first look at Susan Sarandon and Mark Wahlberg in Peter Jackson’s upcoming adaptation of Alice Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones,” courtesy of fansite Access Saoirse who has scanned a recent issue of Empire.
‘Bones’ follows the story of teenager Susie Salmon who, after being murdered at the hands of a neighbor, watches over her family, friends and murderer from her own personalized heaven.
In the film, Sarandon will portray Grandmother Lynn, the maternal grandmother of protagonist Susie, who is played by Saoirse Ronan (who we’ve already seen in an earlier Empire image). Grandmother Lynn joins the Salmon family home after her daughter Abigail, played by Rachel Weisz, leaves. Wahlberg, meanwhile, will play Jack Salmon, the tormented father of Susie who becomes torn by guilt over his daughter’s murder. Wahlberg replaced Ryan Gosling in the role and had previously spoken of drawing motivations and inspirations from his own life and children for playing the character.
One of the more controversial elements of the film adaptation thus far has been the prospect of Jackson’s portrayal of ‘heaven.’ Director Jackson responded to the early talk, though, noting: “People shouldn’t come to the movie expecting to see heaven. What they see is what she calls ‘the in-between’. She stuck between her death and where ever she is going next. It’s a very surreal world made up of elements of her life and memory.”
Further, on the film’s tone, Jackson revealed: “The humor is very important. There’s nothing hard about making dark, depressing films. It’s not a difficult thing to put an audience through the wringer. We wanted to make it strangely funny and quirky, which is by far the greatest challenge given the subject-matter.”
While Jackson, Wahlberg, Sarandon and Weisz will provide the film’s Hollywood glamour, much of the film’s appeal, and probably success, will rest on the shoulders of young lead, Ronan. ‘Bones’ will be somewhat of a coming-of-age story for her character, albeit post-mortem, and her presence will be the cornerstone to the film’s tone.
Director Jackson has full confidence in Ronan though comparing her to another one of his great actresses: “She’s fantastic. She really reminds me of Cate Blanchett – you know, a younger Cate. I can see her having the sort of career and making the types of films that Cate has been making. She will be with us for a long time.” Another recent co-star of Ronan’s reiterated Jackson’s feelings with his own huge wraps and comparisons. “This girl is going to be like Elizabeth Taylor. You’re going to see her for the rest of your life,” said her “City Of Ember” co-star, Bill Murray. “She is like sent from above. A beautiful person, a beautiful actress and just beautiful.”
And the young actress, who was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe in 2007 for “Atonement,” may just live up to the hype too with early reviews for ‘Bones,’ both positive and negative, noting an excellent performance from Ronan.
“The Lovely Bones” is due out December 11th.