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Paramount has released the first trailer The Lovely Bones , an adaptation of the wildly popular novel by Alice Sebold by director Peter Jackson. It is the story of a young girl named Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), who has been brutally murdered and must watch over her family, friends and killer from heaven. She is torn between her need for her family to heal in the wake of her loss and her desire to see her killer brought to justice.

It is a heart-wrenching book — one that made this writer shed a tear or two — and the film’s first trailer looks absolutely fantastic. Anyone who is a fan of the book will see some very recognizable scenes, including some very distinct scenes involving Susie’s sister, played by Rose McIver and interactions between Susie’s father (Mark Wahlberg), mother (Rachel Weisz) and detective Len Fenerman (Michael Imperioli). As far as I’m concerned, this is the drama to watch this winter — it has the potential to really go to the next level and possibly bring home some hardware during awards season. Great cast, amazing source material and a director who’s no slouch — not to mention a trailer that is fantastically cut to heighten the film’s tone — and we’ve got ourselves a film worth looking forward to. At least, that’s my take on it.

Fair warning though, some of you may see this trailer as containing advanced information — I don’t consider it to be spoilery, as the identity of Susie’s killer is something you know in the first chapter of the book. But if you would like to go in with a completely blank slate (not sure why you’d need to, as you should really read the book), you might want to hold off on this trailer for now. Otherwise go forth and enjoy, and also keep an eye out for a cameo from our good friend and Reject Radio regular Eric Vespe of Ain’t It Cool News fame, who is in the film and the trailer (Hint: He’s in the book store).

The Lovely Bones is in theaters on December 11, 2009. Check out the trailer below or in high definition over on Apple.com.