Sony has sunk a lot of money into the "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" franchise: the studio must pull the trigger on a potential sequel or just let it die. To recap: David Fincher‘s R-rated thriller did decent but not spectacular box office, making it harder for Sony to just greenlight a sequel. Fincher and producer Scott Rudin commanded big upfront fees and A-list screenwriter Steven Zaillian was also paid quite well for several drafts of ‘Dragon Tatoo’ and “The Girl Who Played With Fire.” Toss in executive arguments and a high price tag before anyone even arrived on set, and you have a sequel that went nowhere as well as a money pit. And far as Rooney Mara, i.e. Lisbeth Salander, is concerned, she doesn’t hold out hope for reprising the character. But hey, if "Need For Speed" can get a sequel, anything can happen.
THR reports that Sony is considering combining "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest" into one movie, and may film the recently announced non-Stieg Larsson penned, but officially sanctioned fourth novel in the series "The Girl In The Spider’s Web." The catch? No Fincher. Given the studio and the director haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye on the series throughout, that’s hardly a surprise.
But why does Sony want to go through all this hassle? For one thing, ‘Spider’s Web,’ due on bookshelves on September 1st, will put the series back in the cultural conversation. Secondly, Sony has the rights, and the studio is probably thinking it would be a missed opportunity to not strike while the opportunity presents itself again, and it will have a nice little ‘Dragon Tattoo’ trilogy. But producer Amy Pascal isn’t keen on the idea, and it’s not clear if Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara would be involved, which would be a bit odd.
But clearly, Sony is trying to figure out a way to continue the series, which has a legion of fans and at least one book and probably more coming. Thoughts? Let us know below.