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 Act of Murder
 Heavenly Creatures
 King Kong
 Maddigan's Quest
 Nature's Way

Synopsis

Scriptwriter Philippa Boyens has described Alice Sebold's bestselling book The Lovely Bones as "brutal, surprising, gorgeous". A tale of murder and how the victim's family and friends deal with it, the story is told from the perspective of the victim — 14-year-old Susie Salmon. For the adaptation Peter Jackson and his Weta FX team engaged in more Heavenly world-building, rendering an afterlife for Susie that "alters and shifts" with her mood. Time praised the film's "gravity and grace", plus Saoirse Ronan's BAFTA-nominated performance as Susie.

Credits (39)

 Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson
Producer, Director, Writer

 Carolynne Cunningham

Carolynne Cunningham
Producer, 1st Assistant Director

 Aimee Peyronnet

Aimee Peyronnet
Producer

See all credits ›

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Produced by

WingNut Films

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Related Titles (6)

 Heavenly Creatures

Heavenly Creatures

Film, 1994 (Trailer)

Another Peter Jackson movie about teenagers and murder

 King Kong

King Kong

Film, 2005 (Trailer)

Peter Jackson's previous movie

 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Film, 2012 (Trailer)

Next film directed by Peter Jackson

 Nature's Way

Nature's Way

Short Film, 2006 (Full Length)

Another gotten away with murder tale?

 Maddigan's Quest

Maddigan's Quest

Television, 2005 (Trailer)

Also features Rose McIver

 Act of Murder

Act of Murder

Television, 1993 (Excerpts)

A play about violent crime

Collections.   See all collections ›  

Included in:

 The Peter Jackson Collection

The Peter Jackson Collection

Curated by NZ On Screen Team
Added 19 November 2012

Quotes

Through Jackson's art and Ronan's magic, the obscenity of child murder has been invested with immense gravity and grace. Like the story of Susie's life after death, that's a miracle.  

– Richard Corliss in Time Magazine, 7 December 2009

I was motivated to write about violence because I believe it's not unusual. I see it as just a part of life, and I think we get in trouble when we separate people who've experienced it from those who haven't.  

– Alice Sebold, in a 2002 Publishers Weekly interview

Jackson manages to squeeze in a touching teen romance, a gripping portrait of a serial killer, a family falling apart drama, an expressionistic after-life fantasy, a police procedural flick and, in one gripping set-piece, a fantastic retread of Rear Window ... bold, daring original filmmaking, with arguably more emotional and intellectual meat to chew on than either the Rings trilogy or Kong.  

– Ian Freer in Empire magazine, 2010

Awards

2010 Academy Awards
Nominated for Best Performance in a Supporting Role: Stanley Tucci

2010 BAFTA Awards
Nominated for Best Leading Actress: Saoirse Ronan
Nominated for Supporting Actor: Stanley Tucci

2010 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards (United States)
Critics Choice Award for Best Young Actor/Actress: Saoirse Ronan
Nominated for Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan), Supporting Actor (Stanley Tucci), Cinematography, Art Direction and Visual Effects

2010 London Critics Circle Film Awards
Nominated for Young British Performer of the Year: Saoirse Ronan

2010 Art Directors Guild Awards (United States)
Nominated for Excellence in Production Design - Contemporary: Naomi Shohan, Jules Cook, Meg Everist, George DeTitta Jr, Chris Shriver, Troy Stephens, Jeffrey D McDonald, Marion Kolsby, Leo Holder and Nell Stifel

2010 Irish Film and Television Awards
Best Actress in a Lead Role - Film : Saoirse Ronan
Nominated for Best International Actor: Stanley Tucci

2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards (United States)
Nominated for Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Stanley Tucci

2010 Santa Barbara International Film Festival (United States)
Virtuoso Award: Saoirse Ronan