‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ Sequel Is Not A Definite Lock

When director David Fincher remade The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, it scored huge with the critics and at the box office. Critics at first were leery that Fincher could pull the task off after Swedish director Niels Arden Oplev had success with the original. However, because the reception was so big the follow up in the trilogy of novels penned by Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Played with Fire was expected to be put into production right away. That, obviously, didn’t happen.

According to Daniel Craig, there’s a reason why that hasn’t happened so easily, and that’s in part due to the the second film out of the three picture franchise running behind its original schedule. Of course, this series isn’t the typical trilogy for the movie going audience. On top of that, even though it scored big for the box office with $232 million world wide, it counted as a financial loss for MGM with its shooting, post-production, and promotional budget, apparently exceeding its earnings.

According to the L.A. Times, who conducted an interview with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo star, he’s not completely giving up on the series coming to fruition. In fact, Craig’s hoping that director David Fincher will also be on board for another installment. “Of course I’ll embrace [the movie], especially if Fincher does it. I’m definitely going to work on him.” In the original Sweden-made trilogy, all three films had different directors but kept its main star Noomi Rapace.

There’s a lot of things yet to be determined before production even takes way with The Girl Who Played with Fire. Sony, who co-produced with MGM, may not even want to take on another sequel after the financial woes. In addition, if everyone is really itching to work with Fincher, they better strike while the iron is hot because the director is currently in a three month holding deal with Disney for his 3D adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

If the Disney film gets the go-ahead before the Dragon Tattoo sequel, Fincher is out, which could lead to more time looking for a director who can stylistically match what Fincher started for the franchise. In addition, Fincher may not even want to be involved with the Dragon Tattoo sequel, as it’s being reported that he had a rough time with producers Scott Rudin and Amy Pascal. It’s also known that David Fincher had to fight to get Rooney Mara cast over actresses like Mila Kunis and Carey Mulligan.

Even after production, the sequel may suffer mistakes that MGM made with the first. When it came to marketing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, MGM and Sony failed to find a suitable direction for “The feel bad film of the season,” which was marketed for Christmas Day, just in time for the joyful holiday season. It’s said that the extended rape scene wasn’t what the audiences expected nor did they want to see it while wrapping up a season of holiday cheer. What could solve their marketing woes is a new direction, but the financial cost is still an issue. Unless Sony wants to produce a film that isn’t exorbitantly costly, then the Dragon Tattoo sequel may never see the light of day.

In addition, David Fincher gave an interview with Variety magazine and revealed that he was still waiting for a script from Steve Zailian for The Girl Who Played With Fire, but apparently news broke out before his comments that the film’s script had already been completed. Could this just be Fincher stalling on the inevitable? Who knows. Apparently Prefix mag is reporting that it comes down to the fact that representatives at Sony aren’t happy with the final script and that may be the reason why there’s confusion over whether or not it’s finished.

Sony by itself has a pretty busy slate, as Fincher is currently shooting House of Cards, which is being supported by Sony and being produced by Rudin. The financial mess, creative uncertainties, and dilly dallying by the studio suggests that Played With Fire probably won’t be in theaters until 2014, and that’s if it gets made at all. If this was a sequel to a Marvel film, we would of had another film already up the pike for 2013, but don’t hold your breath.

Do you think The Girl Who Played With Fire will be hitting theaters in 2014? Do you think the series would work with another director at the helm?