Dem Bones, Dem Bones

He's been threatening it for some time and Peter Jackson might finally manage to escape from the world of spectacle and visual effects. He toyed with the idea after finishing work on Lord of the Rings with unassuming drama As Nature Made Him, but the lure of King Kong proved far too hard to resist. Once the monster monkey is back in his cage, however, Jackson plans to hang up his blue screen (temporarily at least) and he's already spied the perfect project with which to do so. The adaptation of Alice Seabold's novel The Lovely Bones has lost Lynne Ramsay as director, leaving Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens in a prime position to take over the project - and raising its appeal a fair old way at the same time. At first glance the story looks a little unlikely as a screen adaptation, concerning as it does the aftermath of a 14-year-old girl's rape and murder as narrated by the victim from upon her cloud in the sweet hereafter. She watches the killer continue his wicked ways, the detective assigned to her case try to see justice done and her family fall apart in fits of grief. Think Dead Like Me meets Ghost - but without gravelings or '80s hair. Jackson's involvement is just a possiblility at this stage though so don't get too excited. Negotiations underway with FilmFour, who plan to press on with the project (acquired back in 2000) despite having all but halted all film production since Summer 2002.