On Thursday, New Zealand site Flicks.co.nz reported a rumor that director Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones had ceased production “due to a rift between the big man and his art director over the best way to depict Heaven. Given that a large portion of film takes place in that very location, with main character Susie Salmon looking down on her family after her murder, this seems a crucial point of difference.” The site has since updated the story to make it seem like this happened a while back.
On top of that, DreamWorks/Paramount told us on Friday that the drama will hit theaters in the fall of 2009 and not on March 13, 2009 as it was reported by sites last year. We asked the studio if this had anything to with the supposed “rift” between Jackson and his art director, but that’s not the case at all.
Turns out, the movie was never scheduled for March 13 at all, there has not been a delay or “rift,” and a fall 2009 launch was always the plan. DreamWorks chief Stacey Snider cleared up the issue by telling ComingSoon.net, “It was a very smooth shoot with no dissent, and all heaven sequences requiring sets or Art Dept involvement were completed on schedule in March. The only shooting remaining involves blue-screen VFX elements, which will be shot in June.”
An adaptation of the Alice Sebold best-selling novel, The Lovely Bones tells the story of Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), who is murdered, but continues to observe her family on Earth after her death. Although she is detached from the world she once knew, Susie witnesses the impact of her loss on her loved ones, whilst her killer skillfully covers his tracks and prepares to murder again. In a tone that is both emotionally truthful, and darkly humorous, Susie tries to balance her desire for vengeance against the love she feels for her family and her need to see them heal; and ultimately comes to understand that the concept of family can encompass both the living and the dead.
Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Michael Imperioli, Rose McIver and Carolyn Dando star in the film, co-written by Jackson and his King Kong and “Lord of the Rings” partners Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh.
