For viewers who gaped at his vision of Lothlorien, who were left awed by his realization of Helms Deep, or who stood slack-jawed in amazement at the details of Minas Tirith – get ready to be blown away again, insists AJ Michalka, who says the next place Peter Jackson takes you will have you thinking of heaven. Literally.

"I think it’s going to be stunning," Michalka said of Jackson's vision for heaven, a major set-piece in his upcoming adaptation of "The Lovely Bones.” "There's going to be this beautiful gazebo involved, I know that. He’s doing a lot of stuff with blue screen, which if going to be insane, unbelievable. It’s going to be her own little world in heaven."

The "her" in this case is Susie Salmon (Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan), a 14-year-old who watches her family and friends from the afterlife, observing them as they struggle to cope with her brutal rape and murder. Read more...

She's best known as one half of a powerhouse duo, but AJ Michalka is about to go solo in a big way, the 16-year-old singer beamed, revealing that she's set to appear in Peter Jackson's "King Kong" follow-up, "The Lovely Bones."

"It's like a dream role," she enthused, nearly jumping up and down with excitement. "I'm playing the best friend of the girl who gets murdered. I was flipping out [when I heard I won the part]. I'm really, really stoked."

The film, an adaptation from the best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, follows the aftermath of a young girl's brutal rape and murder. The girl, 14-year-old Susie Salmon, watches her family and friends from the afterlife, observing them as they struggle to cope with her terrible demise. Read more...