'Lovely Bones' Trailer Adds Drama, Omits Harsh Detail

By PopEater Staff Posted Aug 5th 2009 02:13PM

The hype for Peter Jackson's adaptation of 'The Lovely Bones' continues to grow, with a sneak peek trailer debuting on iTunes teasing the film months prior to its December release.

The trailer sets the movie up to be incredibly visually stimulating, addressing 14-year-old murder victim Susie Salmon's bizarre and surreal narration from the afterlife. Jackson's take on the appearance of heaven and the afterlife seems to bring brightness and life to the tragic tale, proving that his imagination is far from chained to the dark woods and mountains of Middle Earth.

But the trailer fails to mention that Susie's violent murder involved a rape. The topic may be too controversial and suggestive for a platform with as massive of an audience as iTunes. Instead, the plot we're shown is a simplified version, where Susie watches her family try to solve her murder and their lives without her.

'The Lovely Bones' is an adaptation of the 2002 best-selling novel by Alice Sebold. Oscar nominee Saiorse Ronan stars as Salmon, with Rachel Weisz and Mark Wahlberg as Susie's parents, and Susan Sarandon as her grandmother.

The quality of the actors, coupled with Jackson's prestige, ensures the film to be as deep as it is dramatic, or so the trailer leads us to believe. The movie hits theaters just in time for the holidays, on December 11.