David Fincher’s U.S. adaptation of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” is currently the hottest project in Hollywood right now.
Oscar-winning screenwriter Steve Zaillian just turned in the script this week and the forward wheels are in motion for an October start date.
Brad Pitt was once tentatively being discussed for the lead, but now Daniel Craig is in talks for the lead role in this crime thriller according to Deadline. The Wrap seems to suggest that it’s all but a done deal, but our source says the Deadline piece is the one that’s accurate in that a deal is being discussed, but nothing has been signed or confirmed. Craig evidently is interested in the role though, so it could happen. Craig also does look just a tad more Scandinavian then Pitt, no?
The female role is also a hotly sought one and last we heard its being circled by several A-list starlets including Carey Mulligan — who’s been loosely connected to the role for a while — plus Ellen Page, Kristen Stewart, Mia Wasikowska, Natalie Portman, Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway, Olivia Thirlby, and Scarlett Johansson.
The Stieg Larsson cult novels have become a global phenomenon and have sold over 25 million copies. In fact the film already has a December 2011 release date in mind and the two book sequels are going to be shot back to back. Fincher currently has an option to also direct, “The Girl Who Played With Fire,” but it sounds like he’ll be off to the Scott Z. Burns-penned, “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” project next.
Obviously a Swedish adaptation of the novels have already been made, but most of us here didn’t care for them at all. Zaillian’s adaptation went straight from the novels and we were told early on he purposely did not watch the Niels Arden Oplev-directed film that starred Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace as the investigative reporter Mikael Blomkvist and his cyper-punky hacker sidekick, Lisbeth Salander.
Shooting-sched-wise it should work being that Craig starts shooting Jon Favreau’s “Cowboys & Aliens” next week and is free in the fall now that “Bond 23” has been indefinitely delayed. The keyword being should. Just remember, this is a trilogy, so Craig will have to commit to three films making this yet another franchise. Could that schedule bump up against, “Bond 23” when it gets up and running presumably some time in 2011? Time will tell.
