When I first heard word that Hollywood was going to make…actually re-make this film my first response was: Why?  I’ve read the Millennium trilogy and I’ve seen all three of the Swedish films and really didn’t see any reason to put an American spin on it.  Then word came down that David Fincher would direct, and Daniel Craig would star along with Christopher Plummer and my feelings toward this remake started to warm.

The first teaser hit the internet back in June and a full trailer followed in September.  After seeing both of those and now this new 8-minute extended trailer, I’m downright excited to see this film.  For those of you who aren’t quite familiar with the story, here’s the official synopsis from Sony Pictures.

Hoping to distance himself from the fallout of a libel conviction, journalist Mikael Blomkvist retreats to a remote island in Sweden’s far north where the unsolved murder of a young girl still haunts her industrialist uncle forty years later.  Ensconced in a cottage on the island where the killer may still roam, Blomkvist’s investigation draws him into the secrets and lies of the rich and powerful, and throws him together with one unlikely ally – tattooed, punk hacker, Lisbeth Salander.

Extended trailers can be a bit of a double-edged sword in that they can raise the excitement level for a film, but they can also give too much away.  This one however is different.  There is so much to absorb with this story that the 8 minutes you see here sets up the story without giving anything away, which is pretty impressive.

The look and feel of what I’ve seen so far mirrors that of the Swedish version which I find interesting.  I shouldn’t be surprised because David Fincher knows how to bring dark and gritty stories to the screen, but I’ll be honest in saying I was a little surprised.

In addition to the big names of Fincher and Craig, this film also stars Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Steven Berkoff, Robin Wright, Yorick van Wageningen, Joely Richardson, Goran Visnjic, Julian Sands and Alan Dale.

Trent Reznor teamed up with Fincher previously and provided the music for The Social Network.  That score won Reznor along with Atticus Ross their first Oscar.  They’re back again and if you saw the teaser, you heard their version (featuring Karen O) of Led Zepplin’s “Immigrant Song.”  As they did with The Social Network score, they duo have released 6 tracks available for download for free.  Pretty cool right? It’s kind of a bummer that Zep cover isn’t included, but if you like what you hear, when you pre-order the full album on iTunes, it automatically starts a free download of the song.

Check out the extended trailer below (compliments of The Film Stage) and let me know what you think.  I’m pretty jazzed about it and hope you are too.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo hits theaters on December 21, 2011.

About the author

Tracy Ladd has written 534 articles on this blog.

Tracy has been writing about film since her days on the her high school newspaper. Even though she took a decade or two off to explore other things, she's back to doing what she loves. She also bakes, can knit a pretty nifty scarf and makes lightsaber sounds with her knitting needles. Or chopsticks. Especially with the lightsaber chopsticks. Follow her on Twitter: @ReelGoddess

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 7th, 2011 at 8:30 am and is filed under Film, Trailers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.