Peter Jackson is easily recognized for his stunning work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy and its spinoff prequel, The Hobbit. However, the filmmaker also had a movie that was not as universally praised.

In 2009, he directed the supernatural drama The Lovely Bones. The star-studded film was based on Alice Sebold’s 2002 novel of the same name, starring Saoirse Ronan in the main role as Susie Salmon, in the aftermath of her success in 2007’s Atonement. Following a disappointing box office run and negative reception, The Lovely Bones found success on Netflix, debuting at number five in the global Top 10, with 3.3 million views and 4.6 million hours viewed, Tudum reports.

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The movie is not available to stream on Netflix in the U.S. but reached the Top 10 in 20 countries in its debut week on the platform. The Lovely Bones follows 14-year-old girl Susie, who is killed by her neighbor Harvey. She refuses to move on and sticks around, hoping her killer is caught and gets justice. The supernatural drama also stars Stanley Tucci, who played her killer, George Harvey, who received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role.

Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, and Michael Imperioli rounded up the cast. Jackson directed the movie and co-wrote it with his frequent collaborators, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. He produced with Walsh, Aimee Peyronnet, and Carolynne Cunningham, with Steven Spielberg, Tessa Ross, Ken Kamins, and James Wilson as executive producers.

The movie was not a big hit, holding a “rotten” 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics, and a slightly higher one from the audience – though 52% is still not enough for a positive badge. The movie had a $65 million budget and only grossed $94.8 million worldwide, adding $14.6 million from physical media (via The Numbers), but it was not enough to make a profit.

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Ryan Gosling Was Originally Set to Play Susie’s Father

Although the role of Susie’s father went to Mark Wahlberg at the last minute, Ryan Gosling was originally tapped to play the character. However, he was recast due to “creative differences” after gaining 60 pounds before production started. The actor explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2010 that he believed the character should be heavier.

“We had a different idea of how the character should look,” Gosling explained. “I really believed he should be 210 pounds.” To gain weight, the actor started drinking melted Häagen-Dazs ice cream whenever he was thirsty. He continued, “It was a huge movie, and there’s so many things to deal with, and he couldn’t deal with the actors individually. I just showed up on set, and I had gotten it wrong. Then I was fat and unemployed.”

Ronan addressed Gosling’s firing in a October 2024 interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “I just loved Ryan. And his dog, George,” she said around the 30:10 mark. She noted they didn’t shoot anything before his firing, but the two got close during pre-production. “I was just sad that he wasn’t gonna be around. But I think the reasons why they parted were totally valid.”

“And I have spoken to both now, and — it happens. You know what I mean? It’s not personal, necessarily. It’s just sometimes you’re not on the same page.” Ronan added there was a silver lining with Wahlberg, who “was a father, he was a father to three kids, and he probably had an experience with that Ryan felt like he didn’t. Ryan was like 27.”

The Lovely Bones is available to stream on Paramount+ and MGM+.

Source: Tudum, The Hollywood Reporter, Happy Sad Confused, The Numbers

The Lovely Bones

Release Date

December 11, 2009

Runtime

135 minutes

Director

Peter Jackson