The Girl Who Played with Fire is likely not happening

It's been rumored that a sequel for the American adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo would be hitting for quite sometime now, but issues with Sony and director David Fincher stalled the project indefinitely. There's now more hints from actress Rooney Mara that any potential sequels are dead.

Mara told E! Online that she was sad that it doesn't seem to be in the cards, but it doesn't look likely at all. The film didn't hit as well at the box office as Sony would have wanted to begin with, but interest in an American version of the Millennium trilogy seemed to fizzle very quickly. David Fincher decided to move on and the studio was unwilling to pay Daniel Craig's post-Skyfall salary. At one point there were even rumors that The Girl Who Played with Fire would omit Craig's character entirely.
I personally loved Fincher's version and I really liked the books, but the source material wasn't that great. They managed to make great films out of the books in Sweden with Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander. I just don't think Americans were quite prepared for a dark trilogy like this. It's a shame but it is what it is.

Who's up for Gareth Edwards' Star Wars?

Pre-production on Gareth Edwards' Star Wars spin-off is now underway as The Force Awakens is now fully in post-production and casting rumors are starting to surface already. Rumor has it that Rooney Mara, Felicity Jones, and Tatiana Maslany are in various testing stages for the female lead.

You might recognize Maslany from the BBC America hit series, Orphan Black. I personally have never seen this show but I do know who she is. Felicity Jones is fresh off an Oscar nomination for her role in The Theory of Everything and was absolutely fantastic alongside Anton Yelchin in Like Crazy. Finally, Rooney Mara is by far the most famous choice as she is also an Oscar nominee (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and led the way in the reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street. She's also appeared in The Social Network, Her, Side Effects, and will appear as Tiger Lily in Pan.
According to the rumor, the frontrunner is currently Felicity Jones but there could potentially be scheduling conflicts because she is set to film Inferno this spring/summer, but we should all take excitement that this film seems to be female driven. Female characters have never been a strong part of the Star Wars films (yes, even with the love stricken Leia Organa) so if we have an actual female led film it should be exciting. It would be even better with a great actress leading the way.

This will all happen rather soon as Edwards' Star Wars film is set for a December 16, 2016 release. We will also get two more spin-off films from Rian Johnson (December 2017) and Josh Trank (likely 2018).

Click to enlarge photo. From left: Rooney Mara, Felicity Jones, and Tatiana Maslany

Levi Miller to play Peter Pan

The search for Peter Pan has ended with newcomer Levi Miller.

When I say newcomer I mean it. Miller was a young version of a main character in Terra Nova and starred in two short films. Other than that there really isn't anything else on his resume.
Miller joins Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, and Rooney Mara in Joe Wright's Pan. It is set in the wake of WWII and follows a young orphan as he is kidnapped by pirates and brought to Neverland. The orphan learns his destiny to defeat Blackbeard.

We will see Pan in theaters on July 17, 2015.

Rooney Mara cast in Pan

Pan has its Tiger Lilly.

Rooney Mara, most recently known for her role as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, has been cast as Tiger Lilly in Joe Wright's upcoming reboot of Peter Pan. Tiger Lilly is the tribe princess of Native Americans residing in Neverland. Mara joins Garrett Hedlund and Hugh Jackman in Pan. The title role has yet to be cast, but we can expect this one to hit theaters on July 17, 2015.

Stieg Larsson apparently would be pissed at Dragon Tattoo marketing

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/12/20/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-marketing/

Makes sense, tbh. Seeing that I know the trilogy (books and movies) I think a lot of marketing in terms of actual merchandise is pretty dumb. Given what happened to Lisbeth I don't see why anyone would necessarily want to become her.
I think the buzz of the movie should be used to raise awareness for violence and discrimination towards women. Whether we like it or not it is prevalent and stuff that happens in the books does happen in real life. People want to ignore that.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

This movie was fantastic. I don't really know what else to say.

I was nervous and confused about Rooney Mara ever since I heard she had been cast and let me tell you, she was incredible. With the kinds of things she had to do in this film she really shined through it. I loved it because Mara was a little closer to the Lisbeth I got from the descriptions in the book. Noomi Rapace did great as well but I always perceived her as more passive and not as cold.

Daniel Craig gave Blomqvist an interesting contrast. He was serious and felt broken but at the heart of the character he was quite... nerdy? Him politely saying "goodbye" to Lisbeth's house guest was hilarious. His reaction to being shot at was a little quirky as well. It was a nice surprise. Although, I must say, Craig's accent annoyed the hell out of me. It went from being Swedish to an odd mixture of British and Swedish to flat out British at random. Very irritating. In comparison to Mara's flawless dialect it was real noticeable.

But overall I truly loved this film. It was, for me, closer to the book than the Swedish film was and certain parts were more intense. However, there was one major omission; Mikael didn't serve any jail time whatsoever. In the book he went to jail in the middle of his research and even in the Swedish version he went to jail. That disappointed me. I also felt like the actual research Mikael and Lisbeth did on Harriet wasn't as thorough as it should have been. Most of it felt a little rushed.

The musical score was incredible. I thought what Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross did for The Social Network was good, but what they have done for TGWTDT is even better. I also loved the subtle Nine Inch Nails tribute in the movie. I'll wait and see if anyone else catches it.

9.5/10
Best movie I have seen in 2011. Hands down.

6 track sampler for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

http://www.nullco.com/GDT/usd.php

Go and get the free sampler now. The full score is available for pre-order as well. I'm not going to pre-order. I'll just go ahead and buy it when it is available like I did with The Social Network's score.

These two make amazing music. I can imagine the film and I haven't even seen it yet. I love it.