THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Director Says Sequels Should Shoot Back-to-Back

Director David Fincher recently stated that, although screenplays for the next two films in Columbia Pictures' planned trilogy have not been completed, the it would be beneficial to film them at the same time.

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle (Christopher Plummer) continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate.

He is aided by the pierced and tattooed computer prodigy Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara). Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

Director David Fincher recently participated in the promotional circuit for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in preparation for it's theatrical release next weekend. During one interview he was asked whether either he or the studio have concrete plans for the next two films, particularly if they would be films simultaneously:

" The second two books are very much one story and it doesn’t seem prudent to me to go to Sweden for a year...come back for a year, put out the second one. Go to Sweden for a year. Come back for a year. I don’t think Rooney wants to be doing this four years from now. So I think that would be crazy especially given the sense that it’s really one story that’s kind of bifurcated in the middle."

Screenwriter Steve Zaillian also commented on the status of the next two projects, The Girl Who Played With Fire and the Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, saying that although he hasn't started working on the screenplays yet he should have them ready within months of the impending studio green light.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo stars Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Stellan Skarsgard, Robin Wright, Christopher Plummer, Joel Kinnaman, Goran Visnjic and Yorick van Wageningen and is scheduled to hit theaters on December 21st, 2011.