FEUD OF THE DRAGON TATTOO

FEUD OF THE DRAGON TATTOO


Author Stieg Larsson never knew how successful he would be

Wednesday December 14,2011

By Anna Pukas
THE premiere of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was a suitably high-profile occasion.

This is, after all, the long-awaited screen version of what has become a publishing ­phenomenon almost on a par with the Harry Potter series.

Author Stieg Larsson never knew how successful he would be as he died just before his first best-seller was published.

But his heirs have certainly reaped the benefits. More than ­ 50 million people have bought a Stieg Larsson thriller and they’re still ­buying in droves. If Larsson’s estate makes one pound from each book sold – a conservative estimate – then his heirs have already made around £50million from the novels alone.

The film rights, which have been sold twice, brought in more. The first film adaptation, made by a Swedish company, has generated more than £70million. Sony bought the English-­language rights with American ­producer Scott Rudin and it is their version, directed by David Fincher, which premiered on Monday and will go on general release on Boxing Day.

The fact they spent $100million on it suggests they are confident it will not only recoup its costs but surpass them by some margin.

Shot largely in Sweden, the film stars Bond actor Daniel Craig – suitably Nordic and gloomy as investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist. Lisbeth Salander, the deeply disturbed computer whizz anti-heroine is played by Rooney Mara, known so far only for a small role as the girlfriend who dumps Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at the beginning of The Social Network.

The ­impressive supporting cast includes Christopher Plummer, Joely Richardson, Steven Berkoff, Stellan Skarsgard and former ER heartthrob Goran Visnjic. With that kind of line-up Larsson’s heirs look set for another mega-payday, which is likely to be repeated when the other two books in the trilogy are filmed

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