1st Look at Geoffrey Rush and Sophie Nelisse in 'The Book Thief'

It' more than a little surprising that Brian Percival's adaptation of The Book Thief doesn't have more attention as its release date nears. Markus Zusak's novel became landed on the Best Seller list and was a popular topic of many a book club, and with its WWII setting, young heroine, and a peculiar narrative twist it would seem like obvious Oscar fodder. Perhaps that will change now that USA Today has released the first handful of images.

A nationwide search took place for an actress to play the story's lead, nine-year old Liesel Meminger, and Percival decided on Sophie Nelisse, best known for her Genie award-winning performance in Monsieur Lazhar. The Book Thief takes place in Nazi-occupied Germany and covers Liesel's rocky relationship with her parents, the caring Hans (Geoffrey Rush), and the stern Rosa (Emily Watson). She learns to cope with the harshness of their life by giving in to her obsession for books, stealing them at every opportunity and sharing them with her friends and neighbors. The photos give us a look at Nelisse, Rush, Watson, and Ben Schnetzer as the Jewish man the Meminger's are hiding in their home.

What these images don't convey or even hint at is how Percival plans to depict the presence of Death, who turns out tot be the ultimate narrator of the story. It'd be too great a change to leave it out completely, but at the same time could be tough to get across on screen, especially in a small-scale drama such as this. Initially dated for next January, 20th Century Fox has shown their faith in the material by moving it up to a plum Oscar-qualifying date on November 15th 2013.