It seems news reported earlier this month that David Fincher was going to direct “Pawn Sacrifice,” the 1970s-set chess drama with Tobey Maguire attached in the lead, was not entirely accurate. According to our sources, while Fincher did take a meeting with the filmmakers to “help them out” in what we imagine was an advisory role, we’ve been told he was never in the director’s chair and is not going to be.
However, we’ve confirmed that “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” is definitely Fincher’s next film. Already adapted into an award-winning Swedish language trilogy, the English-language version is being produced by Scott Rudin at Sony with Steve Zaillian (“Schindler’s List,” “American Gangster,” the original draft of “Moneyball“) currently writing the script. Shooting is set to begin in September or October, presumably once Fincher finishes press rounds for “The Social Network.”
As we previously reported, Carey Mulligan was on the studio wishlist for the lead role of Lisbeth Salander but that seems to be as far as it’s gotten. As Mulligan herself confirmed, she’s not received any official calls regarding the role and we’re not surprised considering the script isn’t finished. From what we hear, Fincher wants an unknown for the lead role which would prove to be an interesting gamble for such a high profile project (not to mention a major coup for whoever lands it). That said, Sony are reportedly very happy with the result of “The Social Network” and we don’t imagine they’ll get in the way of Fincher casting the project the way he wants.
With this news, we’re not sure what this means for “Pawn Sacrifice.” But if producers were meeting with Fincher about the project, it might mean he was giving them direction, notes and possibly filmmaker suggestions, but who knows if it will go in front of the cameras soon. It’s also pretty safe to say that the 3D animated “Heavy Metal” that’s now being shopped around town will be a way off as well, but then again Fincher won’t be directing it entirely alone either.