First things first: "From Page to Screen" is a new column I'm trying here at Cinematical. Each week I'll discuss in detail a book that serves as the source material for either an upcoming or a past film adaptation. In the case of forthcoming films, I'll talk about the prospects for the adaptation: the challenges of bringing the particular book to the screen, the casting, the plot, the literary intangibles that so often wind up missing from the resulting movies. In the case of past films, I'll discuss the adaptation's approach to its source: what changed, what stayed the same, what worked and what didn't. Oh, and I'll actually have read the books.

I never tire of repeating my simple philosophy when it comes to adaptations: books are not movies. What works on the page won't always work on the screen. To demand total faithfulness to the book is folly, and will usually lead to a crappy movie. (This is also the case, by the way, for "true stories" and biopics -- people's lives, no matter how interesting, don't always, or even often, make for good films.) But that, I think, makes my task here more interesting rather than less. What does it take for an adaptation to work -- as a film in its own right, or as a translation of the source material?

The idea for this came from a number of discussions I've had here on the site. People are passionate about the books they love, and protective of them. The adaptation process is fun to talk about -- and even more fun when you've read the book and can have an informed conversation. I hope you'll join me, and I plan to be active in the comment threads.

Say it ain't so! I want this to be nothing more than hyperbole and ugly rumor mongering. But let's look at it anyway: According to Flicks.Co.NZ, there are troubling stories surrounding the set of Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones.

The first is a bit of a yawner. Reportedly, Jackson is having creative differences with his art director over the best way to portray Heaven -- a pretty key location in the book, if you remember. Things even reached a point where the production had to take a break as the disagreement was sorted out, according to reports.

But then came word (today) from The Bad and Ugly that the film has now been delayed, and instead of a March 13, 2009 release date, it's been pushed to Fall, 2009. No word on whether this was due to production issues or if they'd rather hold the film for a potential Oscar push.

Additionally, Susan Sarandon seemed like she was pretty iffy on the film and especially her performance while speaking to press at the London premiere of Speed Racer: "I play the comic relief, an alcoholic grandmother – my first grandma – but she doesn't really seem like a real grandmother because she has a lot of hair and jewelery and nails and liquor. I don't think I ever talk without a cigarette and a drink in my hand. Peter Jackson is really a nice guy and very interesting. It was really a very different way of working. We had a good time, I'm really curious to see what it's like because he kept pushing me to be more and more extreme and sometimes that's when you make your big mistakes so I'm not sure how it will come off -- it will be interesting to see it from the point of view of the audience."

Not a whole lot going on in the way of movie news today (well, aside from that little New Line announcement ...), so I thought I'd write about books instead. I just finished reading Magnus Mills's The Restraint of Beasts, which supposedly has already been filmed by Pawel Pawlikowski but is apparently stuck in some kind of post-production limbo. The book is weirdly hilarious, enough so that I now want to read more by Mills.

I'm now reading Terry Pratchett's Small Gods, which is hard to imagine as a movie, but I suppose it could be done if it was by the right director. Peter Jackson's upcoming adaptation of The Lovely Bones still looks promising, perhaps even more so now that Saiorse Ronan, who he wisely cast as Susie Salmon, is now an Oscar-nominated actress for her performance in Atonement, but we're going to have to wait until 2009 to see that one.

What books have you read of late that you think would make great films? Who would you want to see direct the adaptations and star in the main roles? Discuss away ...

Some rumors do and some rumors don't ...

Well, it's totally official: Christian Bale is currently in negotiations to star in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins (aka Terminator 4). The Hollywood Reporter tells us today that Bale is still talking, but he'll most likely join the project (as previously rumored) as its star, under the direction of McG. At this point, I think we're all wondering the same thing: How the f*ck did we get from James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger to McG and Christian Bale? I do not know, however the casting of Bale is definitely a step in the right direction. While THR doesn't come right out and say it, chances are Bale will play a thirty-something John Connor as he begins to wage a long, hard-fought war against a rising army of machines. No word on whether Bale will sign on for more than one film, as the Halycon Company (who picked up rights to the franchise earlier this year) have stated that they're interested in making at least three new Terminator flicks.

And while we're on the subject of Christian Bale, AICN managed to get their hands on a slew of promotional photos for this summer's The Dark Knight (see two above) -- most of which show Heath Legder as the Joker in a number of maniacal poses, with only one photo dedicated to Batman himself. We're not sure what these photos are for (perhaps magazine covers, reveals on the viral sites, etc ...), but I certainly like the way the Joker has come out. All that's left for us know is to see Ledger in action -- I want to see dialogue, I want to see it all. Rumor has it a new Dark Knight trailer (or footage of some kind) will play before IMAX screenings of I Am Legend this month, so I imagine the same footage will also arrive online (either that or a trailer) around the same time. The Dark Knight arrives in theaters this July 18. NOTE: Pics have come down at the request of the studio

Finally, that giant Hobbit rumor from the other day has been debunked. On Friday, a site called Marketsaw came out with the rumor that Peter Jackson was indeed going to direct The Hobbit, split it into two parts, with both arriving in 3D. AICN claims to have spoken with people over at the Peter Jackson camp, and they said it's not true. Things between Jackson and New Line are still not settled, even though the director is interested in 3D -- this Hobbit thing won't be happening anytime soon. They also say that Jackson, who's hard at work on The Lovely Bones, will go from that film to Tintin, which he is co-directing alongside Steven Spielberg. Will The Hobbit happen eventually? Probably. But not now and not with Jackson.

Production began last month on Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's ultra-popular novel, The Lovely Bones -- just as Ryan Gosling left his role as dad, and Mark Wahlberg jumped in. The film focuses on a young girl who is raped and murdered, and then watches her loved ones and killer from heaven as her family falls apart and they try to find her body. It's pretty dark, but with word finally coming from the set, we're finally getting hints to just how Jackson will present it -- Susan Sarandon recently talked to MTV about her role as Grandma Lynn, and just what sort of adaptation Jackson has been cooking up.

She says: "I play kind of the comic relief. She's [a] drinking, hard shooting, smoking [old lady] cutting across all of the pain, pain, pain. Whenever I possible can blow smoke in someone's face, I'm doing it!" But it seems that this levity is not just present in her role. As she says of the film on a whole: "I haven't figured out the tone of the movie, I'm still trying to figure out exactly what it is. It's going to be a strange jumble of things. But Peter Jackson did Heavenly Creatures. It's like that." So the director is turning to his roots, but that doesn't mean he's completely left the world of special effects. The actress also says his treatment of the heaven sequences "will work better in the film than they did, for me, in the book." Why that is, I don't know, but considering all he did with Lord of the Rings, it must be good.

Variety reports that Mark Wahlberg has signed for the lead in the big-screen adaptation of Max Payne. The 3rd person shooter game was released by Rockstar Games (makers of Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto Series) back in 2001. The story centered on Max Payne, an embittered cop from Hell's Kitchen who comes home one day to find his wife and baby daughter have been murdered by junkies. Now undercover in the DEA, Max is given up to the mob all the while, uncovering a government conspiracy surrounding a designer drug called Valkyr. The game spawned two sequels and Fox had purchased the screen rights back in 2003.

John Moore has already been slated to direct the Beau Thorne script (Moore is also behind the vampire zombie flick Virulents that Scott told us about a few months ago). Some changes have taken place with the story; they kept the dead family, but it seems like the conspiracy angle has been tossed. Now, the story is about a cop (Wahlberg) with, "little regard for rules as he investigates a series of mysterious murders. He finds himself up against an adversary bent on destroying Max and the streets he protects".

Producer Scott Faye told IGN back in July that, "I think this is a real actor's part because although the story will have action and intrigue, at its core it's a story about a man who loses everything in life that's dear to him" -- so I can only assume that Faye is convinced that Wahlberg is the man for the job -- if nothing else, he does have the sneer down pat. Wahlberg recently replaced Ryan Gosling in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones and will start work on Payne as soon as Bones has been completed. Max Payne is tentatively scheduled to start shooting early next year and head for theaters in 2010.

Just three days before shooting (which begins today) Variety reports that Ryan Gosling stepped out of his starring role in The Lovely Bones -- Peter Jackson's adaptation (with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens) of Alice Sebold's hit novel. He had signed on to the drama back in June to play Jack Salmon, the father of the young, murdered Susie, who watches her family and murderer from heaven while trying to deal with the fact that she's dead. He was to star with Rachel Weisz, who is playing Jack's wife, Abigail.

Sources say that Gosling left due to creative differences, and that's a heck of a time to decide to leave! Beyond the fact that it didn't leave Jackson much time to find a replacement, Gosling had already gained 20 pounds for the role, and grown a beard. At least this wasn't a Machinist sort of gig -- it'd suck to walk out after starving yourself down to nothing. This is also the only project he has cooking (at least that's been released to the public), so I'm not quite sure what Gosling will be going with himself now.

But have no fear -- Marky Mark to the rescue! Wahlberg read the script and quickly committed to the role on Sunday. I have to give the casting powers credit -- that's a decent replacement in such a short time. That being said, it will definitely bring a whole different style to the role. This is also Wahlberg's first time in a Jackson production. The closest they have come to working together in the past was when Jackson popped up in an episode of Entourage, which Wahlberg is an executive producer of. So what say you, Lovely Bones fans? Is Wahlberg a decent replacement for Gosling?

Just when you thought there was little to no movement on the do-we-really-need-another-one Terminator 4, comes word from Moviehole that a couple of high-profile actresses might be battling it out to play the lead female. First off, take this all with a grain of salt since it comes via two websites called Celebrity Spotlight and GlobalArnold.com. Since I dig Clint at Moviehole, and trust his opinion, I've decided to link directly to his story (in which he provides links to the original articles). That said, according to whomever, both Rachel Weisz and Chloë Sevigny approached Terminator producers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek at a recent party -- and, apparently, inquired about "the role." I'm not sure what "the role" is, but I assume it's the same character portrayed by Claire Danes in Terminator 3.

Additionally, they also claim that a "high profile hunk has already been cast as the male lead," which most likely means Nick Stahl will not be reprising his role as John Connor. No idea who that could be, but feel free to throw out guesses based on what we already know about the John Connor character and the words "high profile hunk." Fred Savage? Fingers crossed! Another, more interesting (to me, at least) note is that they also mention the following with regards to Weisz's busy shooting schedule: "She is already signed up to star in Peter Jackson's Lovely Bones and next year will start shooting Sin City 2 with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez." Oh really?

First off, when did Weisz sign on for that role (which, in all likelihood, would be that of Ava Lord), and when did Rodriguez solidify a shooting schedule? From what we know, no one is really planning post-strike right now, and even so, Rodriguez has to shoot his Barbarella remake first. So, has Weisz been officially cast? And seeing as she turned down a third Mummy film, what makes you think she'd be interested in a fourth Terminator film? Chloë Sevigny, on the other hand, is super sexy in that "I might kill you after we sleep together" kind of way -- which I really dig -- so go ahead and sign her up. All rumors for now; we'll let you know if anything more concrete materializes.

At least one Sopranos star is looking to exit the small screen for a fancy big-screen lifestyle. The Hollywood Reporter tells us Michael Imperioli (aka Christopher on the show) has signed on to co-star in the highly-anticipated adaptation of The Lovely Bones, to be directed by everyone's favorite gorilla Peter Jackson. The film (like the book) revolves around a young girl who is murdered, but continues to watch her grief-stricken family, as well as her murderer (as he gets ready to kill again), from heaven. Imperioli, unfortunately, will not be playing the nephew of a crime boss in the film. Nope, instead, he'll be on the opposite side of the law -- taking on the role of Len Fenerman, the detective in charge of investigating the little girl's death.

Imperioli joins a star-studded cast that already includes Ryan Gosling (as the girl's father), Rachel Weisz (as her mother), Stanley Tucci (as her killer), Susan Sarandon (as her grandmother) and newcomer Saoirse Ronan (as the girl in question). Adapted for the screen by Jackson and his two Lord of the Rings cohorts (Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh), Paramount will distribute The Lovely Bones next year; most likely during the fall so that it can start knocking on Oscar's door. I haven't read the book yet, but my wife has said plenty of fantastic things about it. It was part of my summer reading material until I opted to go for I Love You Beth Cooper instead (what can I say, I love me a good teen comedy). That being said, I can't say for sure how good the casting choices are. I will, however, tell you that I love all the actors involved and look forward to seeing Jackson return to telling smaller stories, rather than giant epics.

Random sidenote: Had Christopher not died, how much fun would it have been to see a spin-off show called Christopher Goes to Hollywood?

Susan Sarandon is about to play a grandmother in one of the best novels of 2002, but I was taken aback when I first read that last week -- is she really grandmother-age already? Anyway, I tend to trust Peter Jackson's decision-making (as long as an oversized ape is not involved.) He'll of course be directing an adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel, The Lovely Bones. It's an incredible story about a young woman who is abducted, raped and murdered; we follow the aftermath from her point of view as she rests in heaven, looking over the lives of her family and her killer. She (and we) watch as some family members try to get on with their lives, the sister grows into adulthood and the killer continues on his own journey. The book is a tragic, compelling story that could really benefit from a big-budget, big-screen push, and the fantastical but true-to-the-source world of Lord of the Rings that Jackson created is proof enough that he can balance his own creativity with honoring an author's vision.

The film has not only nabbed Sarandon, but another favorite of mine, Stanley Tucci, to play the murderer. Playing the kid watching everything from above will be newcomer Saoirse Ronan. And, of course, the cast also includes Rachel Weisz and Ryan Gosling. Production begins this fall and the pic will probably be ready for release by fall of 2008.