Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic; Columbia PicturesIt's probably safe to say who David Fincher won't be adding as a friend to his Facebook page.
The Social Network director's upcoming Hollywood reworking of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is getting some serious criticism from Niels Arden Oplev, who helmed the original Swedish adaptation.
Oplev is upset, in particular, with what he feels is a push by the studio behind the U.S. version to make Rooney Mara's depiction of the book's protagonist the definitive portrayal.
"The only thing that's annoying to me is that the Sony PR machine is trying to make their Lisbeth Salander the lead Lisbeth Salander," Oplev told the website Word & Film. "That's highly unfair because Noomi [Rapace] has captured the part and it should always be all her. That's her legacy in a way I can't see anyone competing with. I hope she gets nominated for an Oscar. I know a lot of Academy members have seen the film and liked it because every time I go to L.A. I meet so many people who have seen my version of it."
What's more, Oplev just doesn't understand why the folks in Tinseltown are even bothering to bring this story to the screen yet again. And he insists he's not alone.
"Even in Hollywood there seems to be a kind of anger about the remake, like, 'Why would they remake something when they can just go see the original?' Everybody who loves film will go see the original one. It's like, what do you want to see, the French version of La Femme Nikita or the American one [Point of No Return]? You can hope that Fincher does a better job."
Fincher's Dragon Tattoo—accompanied, we assume, by more criticism from Oplev—is due in December of next year.