With a reported $90 million budget and slightly over $72 million in global box office so far, Sony’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” has a lot of ground to make up before the studio can proclaim it a profitable title – particularly considering the no-doubt considerable marketing costs associated with the film. Nevertheless, the studio appears to be sticking to their guns – at least for now – as they’ve reiterated their previously-stated commitment to producing the next film in the trilogy, “The Girl Who Played with Fire”.
“[Dragon Tattoo] continues to do strong business and nothing has changed with respect to development of the next book,” a Sony representative told Entertainment Weekly in restating the studio’s allegiance to the series. They also confirmed that “Dragon Tattoo” screenwriter Steven Zaillian is continuing work on the script for the sequel, which both Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara are contracted to return for. As for director David Fincher, he hasn’t yet committed to any future films in the series.
While it’s pretty hard to believe that Sony is unconditionally planning a follow-up given “Dragon Tattoo”‘s current box-office totals, the film has admittedly been holding up well in the weeks since its soft $12.7 million opening. Indeed, Sony is probably just waiting to see where the film’s final worldwide grosses end up before making a final judgment.
Do you think “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”‘s final box-office take will end up being enough to justify another film? Sound off with your predictions in the comments!