Despite lukewarm reception, Sony says Dragon Tattoo sequel still happening

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO came and didn’t exactly light the movie-going world aflame. Since opening on December 21, the film has brought in only $60 million, which doesn’t sound all too bad, but the film cost over $90 million and the original Swedish movie brought in over $104 million worldwide. Maybe audiences were looking for less anal rape this Christmas season?

But fear not Lisbeth fans: Sony Pictures says that despite the perception that DRAGON TATTOO has underperformed, they’re still moving forward with the sequel, THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. A rep for the studios told Entertainment Weekly that “development continues” on the second film in the trilogy and that writer Steven Zaillian is currently working on the script. “Nothing has changed with respect to development of the next book,” a rep for Sony says.

The sequel was originally set for a December, 2013 release and both Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara are contractually committed to reprising their roles. Not so committed is David Fincher. The director has been prepping 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA at Disney and hasn’t yet decided whether he’d like to return.

My gut tells me Fincher will pass on any sequels but stick around in some kind of advisory role. Perhaps he’ll bring on one of his friends like Mark Romanek (who’d make a nice fit) to work on future films. Frankly, I think it was a nice enough experiment but would advise Sony, Mara, Craig, et al. to cut their losses and move on.