DreamWorks Studios is currently in talks with the actor to play George Harvey, a murderer. Peter Jackson is set to direct the project.
Rachel Weisz and Ryan Gosling will also star in the film. They will play the parents of Susie Salmon, a 14 year-old girl who is kidnapped and murdered by Harvey.
The book, written by Alice Sebold, was released in 2002, and the story is told from the view point of Susie, who observes Harvey and his family after her death.
Filming of the project will begin in October in Pennsylvania and New Zealand.