Even though casting has yet to be firmed up, production on David Fincher’s adaptation of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” is moving full steam ahead.
Fincher has landed in Stockholm where he joins the film’s production designer to go over shooting locations for the upcoming film. Now set to start filming in October, Fincher wants a “European look” for the film (which is not surprising considering the book is set in Stockholm) and is planning to shoot all the exteriors in Sweden, however, due to tax incentives, studio work will be done in other countries.
Stockholm film commissioner Ingrid Rudefors says the film will feature a “star-studded” cast, but our guess is that’s just some easy marketing talk because, as we previously reported, Steven Zaillian is still finishing the script and Fincher is still eying an unknown for the lead role of Lisbeth Salander. We’re not sure it will happen, but don’t forget that we were the first to mention that Brad Pitt was being thought of for the lead and that he has the also has an option to direct the second book in the series, “The Girl Who Played With Fire” as well (evidently that’s what he’d like to do next, but we’ll see if that happens or not).
It’s interesting that Fincher is keeping the Swedish location intact, especially considering there is already a highly successful Swedish film trilogy of the books out there. We wonder if Zaillian will stick closely to the book or tweak it to a story of transplanted Americans solving the mystery in Sweden. At any rate, we think the Swedish film adaptations are dreadful and with Fincher in very familiar territory it should be a distinct step up, whichever way the production goes.