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EXCLUSIVE: Every hot young actress in Hollywood wants to play the lead in Sony Pictures’ The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. But will director David Fincher cast one of them — or go with an unknown? This is the studio’s next 3-film franchise based on Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s bestselling Millennium trilogy. It begins with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (there’s a very well-received Swedish version in theaters right now), and continues with The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest. So what’s described to me as ”creme de la creme” of young actresses are calling Sony execs as well as producer Scott Rudin and asking if they “can come in for a meeting” about it.
Carey Mulligan, the Oscar nominee from The Education, actually phoned the pic’s writer Steve Zallian and took him to lunch. (Reminds me of that bad joke about the ambitious actress and the writer, but Zallian is also the exec producer.) Juno Oscar nominee Ellen Page wrote a heartfelt note to Rudin. (Her Hard Candy persona is perfect for the part.) Sony execs insist they’re “nowhere near casting”. But Mulligan, Page, Kristen Stewart, Mia Wasikowska, Natalie Portman, Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway, Olivia Thirlby, and Scarlett Johannsen are all circling.
The problem is that director David Fincher “is not sure if he wants to go with an actress of any note or go with an unknown,” an insider tells me. “David’s process is very specific and private. He’s looking for authenticity and a degree of fierceness and believeability capable of delivering the intensity that the part on the page calls for.” I hear Sony execs think the bestseller itself is such a phenom, and the material so exciting, that the twentysomething female lead doesn’t need a name. On the other hand, they think the male lead does require a star, and the studio is waiting for an answer from Brad Pitt.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Why are they even making an American adaptation? Go see the originial movie – its out in the U.S.; hell, the other 2 movies in the trilogy are already out on DVD (just not in English yet). American film companies will just ruin this, much the same as they did when they Americanized “Le Femme Nikita” years ago.
I’m tired of Brad Pitt. I think they should go for unknown actors for the whole cast or at least someone better than Pitt.
I vote for Lyndsy Fonseca!
Read the first two books with book three on the way. Saw the Swedish film and the casting was so off putting but the movie stayed true to the plot (except the girlfriend of the publisher subplot) which borders on melodrama – my favorite kind of genre. But Brad Pitt – NO NO NO NO NO. The part calls for a craggy sexy guy like CLIVE OWEN. Brad Pitt is a pretty boy gone to seed who stopped acting years ago and gets by on his force of personality alone. Personally I can’t stand Ellen Page and her sulking depressed personality but really where is Jennifer Jason Leigh when you need her?
Two words: Caroline Dhavernas.
I have very low expectations for this.
This role has Ellen’s name all over it. I’d like to see her get another Oscar nod.
I’ve read all 3 books and have seen 2 of the films. As far as I’m concerned, these “American” versions are simply about making money, and thus, I don’t give a shit. Everyone involved in the Swedish Film versions has had their say and any films made after these…are worth nothing. But if they go ahead and trash Stieg Larsson’s legacy, at least hire an unknown actress. There’s not a successful actress working today who could make us believe she’s anything but ACTING the part of Lisabeth Salander.
God do I hate Hollywood. It’s artless and all about money. What a dumb town.
Hey Nikki,
Doesn’t this article really give credence to Mike Fleming’s earlier observation “that, with only a few exceptions, a studio’s choice of actress often makes little difference in what a film will do at the box office.”
- Sony execs think the bestseller itself is such a phenom, and the material so exciting, that the twentysomething female lead doesn’t need a name –
That kind of proves Mike right…
Yo, Whiskey. I think you hit the wrong bookmark. Big Hollywood is elsewhere, and a friendlier environment for wingtarded comments about “hard-core Marxists” and a complete misunderstanding, not to mention misrepresentation, of a book you have never read. (World-wide sales, at the moment, are better than 23 million, btw.)
On the other hand, the comment, “Swedes don’t write much” is a keeper. So thanks for that.
Back in the real world, the books will make great movies, though the second is probably more cinematic than the first. (The third may in fact be problematic, if only because Salander spends most of the story in a hospital bed.) Fincher is a great director for this. Zalian is a wonderfully talented writer. I’d hope for an unknown when it comes to the casting of Lisbeth Salander.
Kristin Stewart would be perfect!!!
I like the idea mentioned in one of the previous comments of having Noomi Rapace reprise her role as Lisbeth Salander in the US versions! She delivered such a great performance that you can’t even read the books anymore without imagining her, although the Salander in the book is shorter, skinnier and a bit more androgynous than Rapace. Page and Mulligan both could pull it off though. Knightley would be disastrous. Wasikowska looks the part, but she only has one look about her, the cranky one, and therefore doens’t have what it takes.
I love Brad Pitt but I can’t really imagine him as Blomqvist, reading the book I could only see Liam Neeson playing this. As soon as Fincher was mentioned I assumed it was going to be Brad Pitt.
of course they’ll want to use an unknown for the female lead since not one of those names mentioned can open a movie let alone any female actress at that age…it’s all about a business model and absolutely has zero to do with the creative and that’s why the movie relies upon a name for the male lead, this is show business people and the creative aspect is completely irrelevant these days, period.
They should come to New York and hold an open casting call for ALL actresses to come. If they are looking for the real deal of fierce, believability, intensity and authenticity, then New York is the place! Unknown, or known doesn’t matter….he should look at all avenues for the right one for the part. When she walks into the room, if he’s a good director, he will know…..I am for an open cast call in Manhattan!
I was bored by all the movies currently playing, so I saw the Swedish version of “Girl” cold, without reading the book or reviews
The previous poster might have a point, it’s well-made, slick and pretty involving. It has two disturbing rape scenes, one oral, the other anal (I just sold a thousand tickets!). It’s also interesting to spend a couple hours immersed in another country.
Salander is a great character, definitely Page. Hathaway is a talented actress, but too elegant for this feral little goth chick.
I was also surprised the movie was a serial killer thriller. The third act felt overly familiar, like all those proceedural TV shows we’ve been hit with, lately. But that could be because all the TV hacks have been stealing from the series, bit-by-bit.
Dear David Fincher & Sony,
Why in the world would you go anywhere near remaking a Swedish film that’s already a global blockbuster seen everywhere, and much sexier & more captivating than every Hollywood attempt at similar fare, i.e. the well-made Zodiac which no one bothered seeing here just a few years ago.
Come to your senses, you won’t make any money or fans remaking an american version of the real thing…Girl With the Dragon Tattoo hit the bullseye on screen just this last year..You would be better off remaking Panic Room.
Sincerely,
Guy with the Distaste for Studio Flops
Please, please, please go with an unknown—whoever gets it, if she nails the character, will become an instant sensation because this is a character role, not a young leading lady. YOU DON’T NEED a NAME–the book series is a huge bestseller. Word of mouth hit. Be as fresh and as outside-the-box as Stieg Larson.
But that doesn’t mean so outside the box that you turn Salander into something unrecognizable. Please, no PC casting. We’re in Sweden, not LA, where they do Hamlet as transexual.
PS Ellen Page is great…but do you really want to see Salander popping up everywhere in CISCO Systems ads?
Natalie Portman would kick ass! remember her rap video for Saturday Night Live? This chick can do anything! Anne Hathaway tries too hard and you can see her acting in every performance. Kiera Nightly looks like she is doing a bad imitation of Natalie Portman. Cary Mulligan was good in An Education, but she doesnt have the confidence or sex appeal of Portman and Page may as well be a boy.
Natalie Portman could do this with her eyes closed she looks 18 without makeup and between “The Professional and her “Gangsta Rap” video she has demonstrated her ability to play the rougher elements of this character Also in Goya’s Ghosts she played a street tough prostitute very convincingly.
That said I doubt she is even interested in this role as it would be better to cast unknowns.
Brad Pit isn’t interested.
I don’t see the point in remaking it but that’s a moot point.
All of the actresses are capable no point in
Yes it’s disturbing women being abused and fighting back disturbs men as noted in above some of the earlier posts.
I saw the film today the story is really great.
I saw the Swedish version. It’s good but not the masterpiece that many have made it out to be. It does have its flaws. I didn’t care for the actor who played Blomquist. He lacked the charisma that the character was described as having in the book. I also really disliked the heavy handed foreshadowing of Lisbeth’s past, something that is hinted at in the first book, but slowly revealed by the end of the second one.
The film and books have been compared to Silence of the Lambs. I fully got that with the books, but only in parts of the film.
I really hope that the casting of the American version is good. There are a couple characters that need to be cast with care because their seemingly normal exterior hides a sick and twisted minds.
Of the actresses interested, Mulligan, Page, Knightley, Wasikowska, and Hathaway would be the best choices. Stewart seems too young for the role and Portman too old. I like the suggestion of Rapace reprising the role for the American version.
Kristen Stewart. Forget twilight and let’s see her range in this.
Lindsay Lohan in Machete pwnd everyone on the list above
nothing beat crazy gunslinger in a NuN outfit
Kristin Kreuk gets my vote.
Let’s get real. The only working actress who has both the talent and fits the specific description is Ellen Page.
If any of you so called film fans want some perspective on this debate, watch Hard Candy (2005) and you will agree.
If not Ellen, go for an unknown and bolster the cast with Hollywood’s Biggest Big Shots.
Mikael Blomqvist: Brad Pitt (Fincher’s lapdog)
Erika Berger: Jodie Foster (Suited up like she was in Inside Man)
Martin Vanger: Stellan Skarsgard (A Swede in Hollywood)
Henrik Vanger: Max Von Sydow (A Swede in Hollywood)
It would be nice to chuck in a few Swedish actors, too. Perhaps Malin Ackerman to play Malin Erickson???
Why not cast Noomi Repace in the American Version? After all
she speaks fluent English.
I would swear by Shannon Sossyman for the role.
Shannyn Sossamon is too tall (5’7 according to IMDb) and will be 32 years old when filming begins. Looking young is a big part of the character and the plot of all three books.