Having only grossed $55 million domestically so far (on a $90 million budget), David Fincher’s English-language Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been perceived as something of a box office disappointment. But don’t box up your stun gun and dildo just yet, because Sony says Dragon Tattoo‘s sort-of soft box office won’t effect their plans for a sequel. YAY! Strawberry merkins for everyone!

“[Dragon Tattoo] continues to do strong business and nothing has changed with respect to development of the next book,” a Sony rep tells EW. In November, Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal told us that The Girl Who Played With Fire was definitely a go, with a targeted late-2013 release date. [EW]

Despite the crappy ending, I thought Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was pretty good, and I guarantee you it would’ve made a lot more money had they released it sometime between January and April when it would’ve had zero competition instead of throwing it in the late-December Oscar bait pile. In any case, I’m down for the next two. Ooh, you think there’ll be violence against women?

So far, there’s just one sticking point, and it’s kind of a big one. Fincher isn’t signed on yet.

So far no director has committed to the project (Fincher hasn’t yet decided whether to return), but according to Pascal, stars Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig are both already signed up for the other two films. Last month Mara told EW she’d love to play Lisbeth again. “I don’t feel finished with the character,” she said. “I’m not ready to go back there yet, but I think by the time we start, I will be.”

If he signed on for what he knew was the first installment of a trilogy going in, you’d think he would’ve planned to make three films all along, but who knows. All I know is that if they can’t get Fincher, Brett Ratner would be a good choice. He’d be great with all the feminist stuff.