David Fincher wants Rooney Mara naked on the Dragon Tattoo poster

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

David Fincher is a man with some very definitive ideas on all aspects of movie-making, including the marketing of his films. The trailer for THE SOCIAL NETWORK was one of the best of 2010 and he still holds a grudge against a certain website (ahem) for posting the BENJAMIN BUTTON trailer a day earlier than its planned launch. Fincher is at it again with his next film, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, as evidenced in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

As it happens, Fincher already has the poster for his film mocked up. Not an unusual practice for a film to go through various stages of design while filming but Fincher’s concept is anything but usual.

From the THR magazine, “He takes out an iPad and clicks on a photo he’s planning to use for the Dragon poster. It shows actor Daniel Craig half-hidden behind co-star Rooney Mara, who’s looking directly into the camera. Her hair is spiky, her face pierced with rings, her body covered in tattoos. It’s black and white and beautiful, but there’s no way in hell any studio will ever let Fincher use it, as he knows. Because Mara is naked from the waist up.”

It’s possible Fincher and Sony’s design team could get creative with some title placement to cover up the breasts in question but more likely they’ll Photoshop on some clothes or work on another concept entirely. Mara, who appears topless in the film with nipple rings she got specifically for the project, doesn’t seem to have a problem but it’s a matter of what the MPAA, who has restrictions on marketing materials as well as the film’s actual content, will allow.