Peter Jackson optioned the rights to 'The Lovely Bones' three years ago. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Peter Jackson optioned the rights to 'The Lovely Bones' three years ago. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Four major studios are bidding to pay a premium for Peter Jackson's next movie, The Lovely Bones.

Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures and DreamWorks SKG have each put a bid on the table to finance Jackson's costly screen adaptation of Alice Sebold's 2004 best-seller about the aftermath of the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl who narrates the story from heaven, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Sony was the first to bid Monday, according to a person involved in the negotiations.

By this morning, 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney Studios, both of which had expressed interest, had dropped out over cost concerns.

Jackson optioned the rights to The Lovely Bones three years ago from Britain's Filmfour, which is a producing partner on the project and has British TV distribution rights.

Jackson wrote the script with his wife, Fran Walsh, and Phillipa Boyens.

Before Jackson acquired the film rights, DreamWorks co-founder Steven Spielberg had been eyeing the project.

Jackson's proposal calls for a studio to guarantee a production budget of US$65 million ($88.7 million) and set aside US$10 million ($13.6 million) in the event of cost overruns.

"That doesn't include Jackson's directing and producing fees, which could bring the production price tag to an eye-popping US$90 million ($122.8 million)," the newspaper reported.

"What is clear is that Jackson wants complete creative control - a demand most in Hollywood are willing to meet".

In the bids, each studio also had to include a marketing budget detailing how it would promote the movie worldwide. The cost of marketing this kind of film in North America alone would be at least US$40 million ($54.6 million), and launching an Oscar campaign would cost an additional US$10 million ($13.6 million) to US$15 million ($20.4 million).

"It's insanely expensive," said one top executive who passed on the project, estimating that a studio would have to spend some US$150 million ($204 million) to make and promote a movie that could be commercially challenged.

"I couldn't justify the numbers," said the executive, who asked for anonymity because of the secrecy of the discussions.

The Los Angeles Times reported it was equally important to Jackson that the studios present details on when the film would be released in theatres and what other movies on that studio's slate would compete with it.