The likelihood of us getting a sequel to David Fincher's THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO had been reduced to almost non-existent but today a small glimmer of hope has emerged; it's not much, but I'll take it. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that thanks to the excitement surrounding the upcoming novel "The Girl in the Spider's Web", which is a continuation of the original Steig Larsson series, Sony has a renewed interest in proceeding with the sequels. However, there's a catch; if these sequels get made it is very likely they will do so without the involvement of David Fincher.
Additionally there's also talk of combining "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest" into one film with "The Girl in the Spider's Web" functioning as the conclusion to the trilogy.
"The Girl in the Spider's Web" has obviously not been written by Steig Larsson, who sadly passed away before his trilogy of Millennium novels had even been published, but by David Lagercrantz. Larsson had originally planed for a total of ten novels in the Millennium series and allegedly left behind portions of several of those novels. His partner Eva Gabrielsson is in possession of these manuscripts but as "The Girl in the Spider's Web" was written without her consent, it makes use of none of Larsson's unfinished work.
Former Sony head Amy Pascal, who would still remain a producer on any upcoming DRAGON TATOO films, is apparently not crazy about the idea of combining the two films as the studio had reportedly paid mid-seven figures for Steven Zaillian’s script for THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. Not an investment you'd like to see go to waste but perhaps it's better if something comes from it instead of having it sit on a very expensive shelf for years. Another stumbling block is the availability of the stars of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. Both Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara are very busy which would only add to the cost of the film; Craig in particular was said to have wanted a pay raise should he return.
This is all in the very early stages and it's entirely possible that things could once again fall apart, but it's nice for the DRAGON TATTOO fans amongst us to know that there's still hope. As much as I'd love to see this idea come to fruition, I'd have to wait to see who would steer the ship should Fincher not be involved before I get excited.
Who would you like to see direct these films if Fincher isn't involved?