Movie

The studio claims that 'Girl Who Played with Fire' will still be happening with 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' lead actors Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig returning as Lisbeth and Mikael respectively.

Jan 4, 2012

AceShowbiz - When David Fincher's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)" performed below the expectation on the box office, questions whether Sony Pictures remains interested in developing its sequel arose. Steve Elzer, a representative for the studio, was quick to put off any speculations and confirmed that "The Girl Who Played with Fire (2013)" is "moving forward."

Elzer explained to TheWrap that the sequel remains on target for a late 2013 release. "Dragon Tattoo" lead stars Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig are also set to reprise their roles as Lisbeth and Mikael respectively. They are also contractually obligated to star in its follow-up "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest".

Steven Zaillian is set to return as the screenwriter and is currently in the early stage of penning the script for the next installment of the film series based on Stieg Larsson's "Millenium" trilogy. As for the director, Fincher hasn't yet to commit on the project but he once expressed interest to shoot the second and third films back-to-back.

Since "Dragon Tattoo", which cost an estimated $90 million to produce, was released in the U.S. on December 20, it has raked in only $60 million domestically. That was far below the $104 million earned by the 2009 Swedish version. Sony, however, believes that the U.S. version is on track to gross more than $100 million domestically.

"The film has performed very well in its first two weeks of release," said Elzer, "and with great word of mouth and excellent reviews, it will continue to do strong and steady business into the new year."

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" follows the mystery surrounding the long-unsolved disappearance of an heiress. A journalist recently dinged by a libel case and a young female hacker team up to resolve it, stirring up bundles of personal and industrial corruption along the way.