is a book that has faith and hope and giant universal themes in it, but it's not meant to be, 'This is the way you should look at the afterlife'". Film adaptation Director Peter Jackson secured the book's film rights. In a 2005 interview, he stated the reader has "an experience when you read the book that is unlike any other. I don't want the tone or the mood to be different or lost in the film." In the same interview, regarding Susie's heaven, he said the movie version would endeavor to make it appear "somehow ethereal and emotional, but it can't be hokey". The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon, Mark Wahlberg as Jack Salmon, Stanley Tucci as George Harvey, Rachel Weisz as Abigail Salmon, Susan Sarandon as Susie's Grandmother Lynn, and Rose McIver as Lindsey Salmon. The film opened to a limited release in three U.S. theaters on December 11, 2009, and received international and wide release on January 15, 2010. It was met with mixed reviews, but nonetheless garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor (Tucci). Stage adaptation A stage adaptation of the novel, adapted by Bryony Lavery and directed by Melly Still, made its world premiere at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton on 1 September 2018 before touring to Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, Northern Stage, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and New Wolsey Theatre. References External links A Dark First Novel Suddenly Soars to the Top in The New York Times'' 2002 American novels American bildungsromans American fantasy novels adapted into films American novels adapted into plays Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel winners Ghost narrator Ghost novels Novels set in heaven Novels about missing people Novels about serial killers Novels set in Philadelphia Novels set in the 1970s Novels about psychic powers Novels about rape Novels about spirit possession Novels about the afterlife Little, Brown and Company books 2002 debut novels