Rachel Weisz is to star in the film adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel The Lovely Bones.

The Oscar-winning actress will play the mother of a 14-year-old girl who is raped and murdered in the movie, which is to be made by Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson.

Sebold's best-selling book is written from the perspective of the dead girl as she looks down from heaven.

Jackson has admitted that adapting the book will be a challenge.

He said: "You think, on one hand, wow, this would be an amazing movie. Your second thought is how incredibly difficult it would be to make it into a film. It was the difficult part that really excited me."

The Lovely Bones was first published in 2002 and became a literary sensation, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide.

Source: Press Release