# The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (English Language Remake) - Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223 "2010-07-27T20:18:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/41 "2010-09-24T03:57:48Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Watching a movie with subtitles (especially when you aren’t used to it) is a different, and in some ways diminshed, experience from watching a movie where you can actually understand what the actors are saying. I find that if the setting highly informs the story, hearing the sounds and patterns of the appropriate language adds a lot. For example, _The Lives of Others_ would have been far less effective if it were not in German. Subtitles make me feel almost like I _do_ actually understand other spoken languages. That’s a cool feeling in itself, and at least for some such films, it adds a specific transportive power that simply couldn’t be done any other way. The closest comparison I can think of is regional music. I don’t want every movie to have American and British rock and pop soundtracks, and I don’t want every movie to be in English. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/42 "2010-09-24T04:49:53Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > [Rooney Mara](http://www.accesshollywood.com/rooney-mara-cast-as-the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo_article_35676?__source=rss%7Cimdb%7Clatest-originals) has been confirmed for the role. I saw a sneak preview of **The Social Network** (GREAT movie!) and she was in it as the girl who breaks up with Zuckerberg at the beginning of the movie, which causes him to build a web site that causes a ruckus on campus. The part was too small to get a real feel of her acting abilities, but she did very well, and, especially in a scene later in the movie, she has real charisma. I have to admit that I kept looking at her and trying to picture her as Lisbeth. If Fincher trusts she can do it, she’ll pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/43 "2010-09-24T07:31:17Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > Just a thought, but I wonder if the family was shopping English-language rights to the film in a hurry because they’re concerned about another potential court battle over Larsson’s estate. I would not doubt it. He originally planned a ten book series and only got as far as the girl who played with fire. However there is a fourth book that exists on his laptop in manuscript form, which could be worth a lot of money. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/44 "2010-09-24T07:44:02Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > > [@Duke](#): > > > > Just a thought, but I wonder if the family was shopping English-language rights to the film in a hurry because they’re concerned about another potential court battle over Larsson’s estate. > > I would not doubt it. He originally planned a ten book series and only got as far as the girl who played with fire. However there is a fourth book that exists on his laptop in manuscript form, which could be worth a lot of money. > > Declan OOps , my bad that should have been kicked hornets nest. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Baboonanza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f475e1/32.png) [@Baboonanza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baboonanza)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/45 "2010-09-24T08:28:06Z")
I think there are some pretty good arguments for remaking it personally. I haven’t read the book but I’ve seen the Swedish version and it could certainly use some serious improvement. In particular the girls ‘stuff’ with her parole officer is entirely unconvincing, the film just doesn’t adequately justify her motivation for her actions. The whole first half is pretty terrible. The second half of the film is much better but lacks the thick tension that it should have and makes the detective work by the journalist seem too easy. I would have classed it as ‘ok’, but a remake that keeps it’s best bits (the location, ideally the actress) whilst upping the production and direction levels could really be a great film. Basically they are doing it for money hats, but there are some sound reasons for it none-the-less. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/46 "2011-01-08T08:11:32Z")
To kick this thread with a bit of great great news, [Trent Reznor will be doing the soundtrack](http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/trent-reznor-set-to-score-finchers-dragon-tattoo)! Oh man, I love the books, and oh man I love the Swedish movies, but man oh man am I looking forward to the new version! I was a loudmouthed naysayer when it was announced that **Let The Right One In** was going to be remade for America, much worse than anybody in this thread, I was positively insufferable, and it turned out I was wrong as wrong as wrong could be, because **Let Me In** was one of the best movies of 2010. This will, I’m absolutely sure of it, be a worthy remake too. The people involved are just too good to fuck it up. It will lead tons of people to the books and the Swedish movies who would never have sought them out. I see nothing but win all around here. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/47 "2011-01-08T10:03:16Z")
> [@Baboonanza](#): > > I think there are some pretty good arguments for remaking it personally. I haven’t read the book but I’ve seen the Swedish version and it could certainly use some serious improvement. In particular the girls ‘stuff’ with her parole officer is entirely unconvincing, the film just doesn’t adequately justify her motivation for her actions. The whole first half is pretty terrible. 😕? Violent anal rape by her legal guardian [not parole officer. She was judged incompetent when she was 13 and given a legal guardian because her mother had been beaten severely enough to cause permanent brain damage, placing her into a care facility] not enough? I thought that they handled it fine in the movie. It was originally made as a miniseries so they couldn’t dwell on violent porn as if it was a theatrical release movie. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/48 "2011-01-08T15:20:57Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > I don’t get it. The original Swedish trilogy is still making its way through cinemas. What is the point of this remake so soon after the original films? What’s not to get? Most Americans do not like to watch foreign movies with subtitles. More people will go to see an English version of it in the United States than would ever go see a subtitled version. I saw _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_ and while it was an enjoyable little investigative movie I don’t really think it’s a classic that just can’t be remade. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/49 "2011-01-08T19:52:56Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And when the Esperanto film _La Seetisen Cain_ was remade by Orson Welles, some people thought he should have just added subtitles to the original. > > But most critics preferred his version. He trimmed almost all the musical numbers, avoided the over-saturated Panavision look, and cut the infamous “Bloodbath at the Chicago Inquirer” scene completely. > > (Welles later added a _“Jedidiah shot first”_ scene, but that is ignored as non-canonical by film researchers… as are all the changes he made to the film during his “cheap white wine” period). Chuckled at this… then noticed that _ **I** _ had written it. THAT’S what I love about “advanced middle age”… I have no recollection of this, and I look at it as _“Wasn’t that younger **digs** a clever guy.”_ Welles eschewing the “over-saturated Panavision look”, indeed. Witty, digsy, verrrry witty. BTW, younger digs must have read this thread-- I do know he went and read the ‘Girl Who’ books, liked them, watched the first movie, and didn’t mind the subtitles. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/50 "2011-01-08T20:03:58Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Many people view watching a “foreign movie” as somehow an elitist activity, it’s as if every foreign movie was somehow “high brow” or as if watching it was done only by people who don’t fart. There used to be a legitimate reason for this attitude: the Hays Code. I was talking to my dad about this a while ago when he commented that back in his (Ivy league) college days in the late 50s/early 60s, the intelligencia all watched subtitled foreign films. Of course they did; American movies were censored to within an inch of their lives by the Hays code. Grownup movies were foreign. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/51 "2011-01-08T23:06:17Z")
Bringing the story to a different audience isn’t just money, it’s entertainment that wouldn’t otherwise be enjoyed. I had no idea this was a movie at all. I’ve seen the book in the stores for years, never quite picked it up. I’ll likely see the movie, though I’m an avid reader, and yep, I’ll wait for the American one, cause…I’m American, and more likely to enjoy something interpreted for me. It beats both voice-overs and subtitles, cause the subtitles are also ALWAYS wrong in some subtle \ way. There are many movies I enjoy thoroughly and love to death that are subtitled, and I love them that way, but I would not, at this point, be interested in the film as is. Being in English, translated \ into something more entertaining to my background, pushes me towards seeing it rather than “Oh, everyone likes that, I should see it sometime…but I think I’ll watch Kung Fu Hustle again instead. Or maybe Cyrano d’Bergerac. Or Tout la matins…something I already know I like.” ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/52 "2011-01-09T07:22:46Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > There used to be a legitimate reason for this attitude: the Hays Code. I was talking to my dad about this a while ago when he commented that back in his (Ivy league) college days in the late 50s/early 60s, the intelligencia all watched subtitled foreign films. Of course they did; American movies were censored to within an inch of their lives by the Hays code. Grownup movies were foreign. BTW, thank you for sharing that. That’s awesome history info. ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/53 "2011-01-09T08:59:59Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And when the Esperanto film _La Seetisen Cain_ was remade by Orson Welles, some people thought he should have just added subtitles to the original. > > But most critics preferred his version. He trimmed almost all the musical numbers, avoided the over-saturated Panavision look, and cut the infamous “Bloodbath at the Chicago Inquirer” scene completely. > > (Welles later added a _“Jedidiah shot first”_ scene, but that is ignored as non-canonical by film researchers… as are all the changes he made to the film during his “cheap white wine” period). I actually just googled the Esperanto Citizen Cain, because I had never heard that piece of trivia before… I only realised it was a joke when I remembered that Panavision wasn’t invented till the 50s! It must be too early in the morning for me… :o ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/54 "2011-01-13T08:43:31Z")
Back on topic, [there are some stylized pictures](http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2011/02/rooney_mara_girl_with_the_dragon_tattoo_film?currentPage=1) of Rooney as Lisbeth in the new issue of W magazine. These aren’t stills from the movie, they’re from a photo shoot. Seriously, I don’t expect to see Lisbeth wearing a tutu. Still, it gives you a better idea of what Rooney will look like in character than we can imagine while watching The Social Network (or maybe that’s just me, since every time I’ve seen TSN, 3 times now, I’m distracted trying to picture her as Lisbeth). To see more photos, click the link above the first picture (“See all the Rooney Mara photos”) for a slideshow. The article itself is interesting too, about Fincher, about The Social Network, and includes lot of information about this movie. “You have to get it right. Or there’s no point at all.” - David Fincher Let’s hope. I have much hope. That said, this bothers me, but I’ll hold off on the bitching: > [@](#): > > The script, which captures the novel’s bleak tone (its original Swedish title was Men Who Hate Women), was written by Academy Award winner [Steven Zaillian](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001873/), who wrote Schindler’s List, and it **departs rather dramatically from the book**. Blomkvist is less promiscuous, Salander is more aggressive, and, most notably, **the ending—the resolution of the drama—has been completely changed**. This may be sacrilege to some, but Zaillian has improved on Larsson—the script’s ending is more interesting. We’ll see. The eyes of the world are on them. Well, a lot of eyes anyway. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/55 "2011-01-13T12:07:34Z")
Hopefully that news won’t lead to an avalanche of nerd whining like the incredibly retarded yet persistant “But Constantine has _blonde_ hair!” outrage. Endlessly irritating how some miss the forest for the trees. I can think of several major changes that would improve the ending. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/56 "2011-01-26T05:26:21Z")
Just caught HORNET’S NEST today (it’s showing at one theater in NY by now, in a freezing basement cinema off Fifth Avenue which was quite fitting) and I was amazed at how well they adapted the book, which moves at the speed of continental drift, to a movie which moved about as fast as a crosstown bus. And with an ending that qualifies as a huge sweeping romantic kiss by Salander terms! There was a mild cheer when Lizbeth came out for her trial in full leather punk goth gear, though. From all eleven of us in the theater. Are they doing all three books in Hollywood, or are they waiting to see what happens with the BO for DRAGON TATTOO? ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/57 "2011-01-26T06:21:17Z")
I think they’re pretty committed to filming all 3 books. Dragon Tattoo will be a huge hit, if not in blockbuster terms then definitely in arthouse terms. There’s no danger of it flopping. It’s David FINCHER, and he is going to do it justice, and do it well. I have faith. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/58 "2011-01-26T21:56:56Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I think they’re pretty committed to filming all 3 books. Dragon Tattoo will be a huge hit, if not in blockbuster terms then definitely in arthouse terms. There’s no danger of it flopping. It’s David FINCHER, and he is going to do it justice, and do it well. I have faith. Dunno. Insomnia was directed by Christopher Nolan and made almost no changes from the original, yet Nolan’s version was tediously boring and the original was quite intriguing. I’d generally trust either Nolan or Fincher to do well, but it’s not a true given. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/59 "2011-01-26T22:23:09Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Dunno. Insomnia was directed by Christopher Nolan and made almost no changes from the original, yet Nolan’s version was tediously boring and the original was quite intriguing. I’ve never seen the original, but I was mighty entertained by the Nolan version of Insomnia. He got a good performance out of Hilary Swank (who I normally don’t care for), so that’s something. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223/60 "2011-01-26T22:27:10Z")
Nolan’s Insomia got a respectable 7.3 user rating on imdb and an impressive 92% at RottenTomatoes. Seems as if both fans and critics liked it. It was also profitable, costing under $50 million and grossing over $100 million worldwide. ($67 million in the US.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-english-language-remake-why/548223.md?page=4)