LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Ryan Gosling will join Rachel Weisz in Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones,” which begins filming in October in Pennsylvania and New Zealand.
Based on Alice Sebold’s best-selling novel, the story is told through the voice of Susie Salmon, who is murdered but continues to observe her family on Earth after her death. Removed from the world she once knew, Susie witnesses the impact of her loss on her loved ones, while her killer skillfully covers his tracks and prepares to murder again.
Gosling will play Susie’s father, Jack Salmon. The role of Susie has yet to be cast. Weisz is playing the mother, a role that Jackson and his writing team of Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh are expanding in their DreamWorks adaptation.
The Gosling casting is a coup for the studio and its Paramount parent. The Canadian-born actor, who nabbed his first Oscar nomination this past year for his star turn in the indie “Half Nelson,” is one of the most selective in the business and has eschewed several big-budget studio films. He next stars in the fall release “Lars and the Real Girl.”
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter