Tucci cracks DreamWorks' "Bones"

By Gregg Goldstein

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Stanley Tucci is in negotiations to play the pivotal role of killer George Harvey in Peter Jackson's adaptation of "The Lovely Bones" for DreamWorks.

Rachel Weisz and Ryan Gosling will play the parents of Susie Salmon (newcomer Saoirse Ronan), a 14-year-old who has been raped and killed by a neighbor she refers to as Mr. Harvey. Alice Sebold's best-selling 2002 novel is told from the perspective of Susie, who looks down on her family and Harvey from the afterlife.

Jackson ("The Lord of the Rings," "King Kong") acquired rights to the acclaimed book and adapted it for the screen with Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh. The feature will be distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Tucci's recent credits include 20th Century Fox's "The Devil Wears Prada" and the Weinstein Co.'s "Lucky Number Slevin." His upcoming film work includes roles in Warner Bros. Pictures' Hollywood-set "What Just Happened?," starring Robert De Niro, and "Blind Date," a remake of the film by slain Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, which Tucci also directed.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter