The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Series

[huntergrayson]

Ginger - I wonder if Craig is a South Park fan.

[jaghetersimon]

It's currently projected to be #4 at the box office this weekend. That's a big disappointment, no? I wonder how much the marketing budget was.

I do find it amusing that two movies starring the original Swedish Michael and Lisbeth (Mission:Impossible and Sherlock Holmes) are at #1 and #2, respectively.

[lpatrice]

I saw it and I thought it was pretty damn good. I liked the original Swedish version too; but I think the Fincher version is better. And the opening credits are fucking amazing.

[ross]

Dec 24, 2011 16:35:39 GMT -4 jaghetersimon said:

It's currently projected to be #4 at the box office this weekend. That's a big disappointment, no? I wonder how much the marketing budget was.

I do find it amusing that two movies starring the original Swedish Michael and Lisbeth (Mission:Impossible and Sherlock Holmes) are at #1 and #2, respectively.

A disappointment? I'd say 4th place is amazingly high for a very dark, R-rated, two and half hour drama about sexual sadism. Far, far higher than I predicted.

(Though I don't seem to be able to predict box office returns in general - Tintin, a widely praised, family friendly Spielberg adventure film is doing much worse than I'd expected - or hoped.)

[Deleted]

While "THE FEEL-BAD MOVIE THIS CHRISTMAS" as an marketing slogan played well in August and continues to play well with core audiences, the whole reliance by studios/distributors on opening-weekend figures is probably the thing which has destroyed the industry more than any other. This is TOTALLY a word-of-mouth movie, where friends tell friends that it's better than the books, FAR better than the Swedish movie and that reviewers like AO Scott are deeply-creepy and intellectually-dishonest for suggesting the assault scene is anywhere near "salacious".

[huntergrayson]

Yeah, I think the Christmas release was, ultimately, a bad move. Kinda like when Grindhouse was released over Easter Weekend.

I think Sony's going to greenlight the sequels pretty much regardless of box office -- it's gotten on enough top ten lists and a few award noms - but also the international box office has yet to come in. The Swedish versions did decently enough but there are a lot of places where having a bonafide star like Bond is enough to put asses in seats. (I mean, hell, Stallone was pretty much kept afloat as a leading man solely due to international box office.)

I do feel like some of the marketing was awesome -- the teaser trailer, the 'Mouth Taped Shut' viral blog/the Find Props Game -- but some of it botched it (the H&M line, really?!). Personally, I agree with Rooney's quote on the poster:

There's a certain way people are used to seeing nude women, and that's in a submissive, coy pose, not looking at the camera. And in this poster, I'm looking dead into the camera with no expression on my face. I think it freaks a lot of people out.

But, at the same time, I understand why a LOT of women were turned off or thought it would be overly exploitative of Lisbeth or Hollywood-ized. (ironically, though, I think the Swedish take is the more "Hollywood"-ized version in some ways -- what with the SUPERcheesy flashbacks to Blomqvist and Lisbeth's past, for example).

[ross]

Dec 24, 2011 22:48:12 GMT -4 @huntergrayson said:

I think Sony's going to greenlight the sequels pretty much regardless of box office -- it's gotten on enough top ten lists and a few award noms - but also the international box office has yet to come in.

I don't know - apparently it had a budget of $90 million, which is very expensive for an award bait movie so it will have to be at least a moderate hit. As an aside what on Earth did they spend the money on? I saw the Swedish film and it didn't look all that expensive.

[Deleted]

I saw the movie two days ago, and have to say it exceeded the swedish movie a million times. (And the swedish version is actually my favourite swedish film, so that says alot).

Being a Swede living in sweden I was curious as to how an American director and movieteam would succeed in making what Fincher described months ago "a movie that would feel swedish and that the swedish film felt maerican.
He was right and nailed it into every detail, from newspapers clippings, tv reports, props in people's homes etc. Although Sweden must come across as a very dark and cold country to the viwer, since Fincher never seemed to film when the sun was out. Well, between November and January it is pitch dark at 3.30 pm. heh.

Fincher's version was also much more nuanced and more subtle than the swedish movie where most characters was much more one-sided characters. I love Noomi Rapace to death, but Rooney Mara created a better Lisbeth (with help from Fincher obviously, he is really an actor's director,bringing out career best work from most actors who work with him.


Oh, and you have top be deranged or a sadist if you find the rapist scene sexual or sexy.

[Martini Girl]

I finally saw this last night. Pretty full house at Arclight Beach Cities. I liked the opening credits, but not as much as Se7en.

As someone who's read the book and seen the Swedish version, I have to say I really preferred Fincher's take on this dark, twisted tale.

It deviates from the book, but remains truer to the overall spirit than the original Swedish version (IMO).

I thought Rooney and Daniel did great jobs and found everyone well cast.

I don't know if it's because I read the book while they were filming or not, but I thought Rooney's take on Lisbeth matched my own vision of her (though I thought Noomi did a good job too).

The rape scenes were intense, but again, I found them to be true to the book than in the original movie-- Not sexy or salacious at all. I was also fine with Fincher's character change at the end.

Not exactly holiday fare, but if you're going to pay $12.75 for a movie (and that was a discounted price), it better be well told and entertaining. Also at 2 hours and 40 minutes, it better hold my attention, and it did. I'm definitely recommending to friends.

[ross]

I do wonder based on the supposedly 'disappointing'* box office what sort of budget Fichner will be allowed for the sequels. $90 million really is criminally wasteful for this sort of film, especially since the original only cost $13 to 14 million. I know most people seem to be saying it is better than the original but is it $76 million better?

* Again I'm baffled that people expected this very dark, graphic and disturbing film to be doing so very well. Certainly it is wildly exceeding my expectations at the box office.