In something like the way America caught the “Survivor”-borne reality show virus from other nations in the realm of TV, our American predilection for coming up with multiple movies based on a single character or concept seems to be happening more in other lands these days. Of course, culture is a feedback loop and we start with the first film in a franchise which looks to become a possible American franchise as well. It’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” based on the first of three posthumously published mystery novels written by Danish writer and activist, Stieg Larsson, that have been dubbed The Millennium Trilogy.
Since this solid, actually quite conventional, though rather sordid and, for some, disturbing mystery thriller did extremely well all over the world, and it hasn’t done badly here, it’s naturally being remade. It’s being given a rather royal treatment, with director David Fincher returning to familiar murderous territory and Steve Zaillian (“Schindler’s List”) writing and producing. Currently young actresses including Ellen Page, Carrie Mulligan, and Natalie Portman‘s name are being bandied about for the title role, though an unknown is also perhaps a possibility. They do need someone very good, I can tell you that.
The male lead — a schlumpish middle-aged dude in the Danish film — has apparently been offered to Brad Pitt, who is middle-aged but very Brad Pitt-like. For it to work, he might have to put on some weight or something as it’s an oddball romance of sorts and it’s no longer so oddball if a handsome movie-star guy shows up.
