Tag Archives: David Fincher

By Sean O’Connell
hollywoodnews.com: The majority of Americans might not have been familiar with French director Michel Hazanavicius and his muse (and wife) Berenice Bejo prior to 2011. But now, thanks to the charming “The Artist,” we all want to know what they’ve done prior, and what they might do next.
During an appearance at the Capri Hollywood festival in Italy over the weekend, Hazanavicius told the press that he’s hoping to rework Fred Zinneman’s 1948 Oscar-winning post-war drama “The Search” for a modern adaptation, Variety reports.
Zinneman’s film follows a Czech mother who is looking for her son after time spent in a concentration camp. Hazanavicius reportedly plans to update the plot to modern times, relocating the plot to Chechnya. “The Artist” producer Thomas Langmann will return for the collaboration, while the director’s wife, Bejo, will take the lead role of the woman searching desperately for her child.
That’s great news. Bejo is a talented actress who showed off a vibrant range in “The Artist.” She could easily go in very different directions, and her relationship with Hazanavicius bears creative fruit that we all can enjoy.

Awards Alley brings you the best Oscar coverage. Click below to read our exclusive interviews with:
- Harvey Weinstein
- The cast of “The Artist.”
- Kenneth Branagh for “My Week With Marilyn.”
- Bennett Miller talks “Moneyball.”
- Sir Ben Kingsley and Chloe Grace Moretz for “Hugo.”
- Tilda Swinton for “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”
- David Fincher, Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara on “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”
- Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer for “The Help.”
- Tate Taylor for “The Help.”
- Gavin O’Connor for “Warrior.”
- Gary Oldman and Colin Firth for “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”
- Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody for “Young Adult.”
- Steve McQueen for “Shame.”
- Glenn Close for “Albert Nobbs.”
- Seth Rogen and Will Reiser for “50/50.”
For complete Oscar and Film Festival coverage, visit our Awards Alley for the latest news items, reviews and interviews all season long.
Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.
Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

By Sean O’Connell
hollywoodnews.com: Ten films remain in the running for the Visual Effects category for the 84th Academy Awards. According to a release submitted this afternoon, the films (in alphabetical order) are:
“Captain America: The First Avenger”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”
“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”
“Real Steel”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“The Tree of Life”
“X-Men: First Class”
Man alive, that’s a tough category to call. While “The Tree of Life” and “Hugo” had some amazing visuals, could you see anything beating “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and the wizardry that is Andy Serkis?
As stated by the release, all members of the Visual Effects Branch “will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the 10 shortlisted films on Thursday, Jan. 19. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.”
As you know, the 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Awards Alley brings you the best Oscar coverage. Click below to read our exclusive interviews with:
- Harvey Weinstein
- The cast of “The Artist.”
- Kenneth Branagh for “My Week With Marilyn.”
- Bennett Miller talks “Moneyball.”
- Sir Ben Kingsley and Chloe Grace Moretz for “Hugo.”
- Tilda Swinton for “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”
- David Fincher, Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara on “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”
- Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer for “The Help.”
- Tate Taylor for “The Help.”
- Gavin O’Connor for “Warrior.”
- Gary Oldman and Colin Firth for “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”
- Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody for “Young Adult.”
- Steve McQueen for “Shame.”
- Glenn Close for “Albert Nobbs.”
- Seth Rogen and Will Reiser for “50/50.”
For complete Oscar and Film Festival coverage, visit our Awards Alley for the latest news items, reviews and interviews all season long.
Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.
Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

By Sean O’Connell
hollywoodnews.com: To date, David Fincher’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” has earned $72.2 million worldwide, an impressive haul for a remake of a popular book, but not a figure that screams “sequel” right away.
And yet, Sony is letting it be known that they’re interested in moving ahead with an adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s second Millennium book, “The Girl Who Played With Fire.”
“[Dragon Tattoo] continues to do strong business and nothing has changed with respect to development of the next book,” a Sony rep told EW.com. The site goes on to say that “Dragon Tattoo” writer Steven Zaillian is moving ahead on his script, but it’s unclear at this moment if Fincher will return.
In an interview in New York City, Fincher told us that if he did return, he would lobby to shoot parts two and three together, since they essentially tell one story and the idea of going to Sweden, coming home, going back, and coming home to film two separate films would be too daunting.
Whomever comes on board to film, they’ll have stars Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig in place, as both actors are signed on to return for the last two anticipated films.
Awards Alley brings you the best Oscar coverage. Click below to read our exclusive interviews with:
- Harvey Weinstein
- The cast of “The Artist.”
- Kenneth Branagh for “My Week With Marilyn.”
- Bennett Miller talks “Moneyball.”
- Sir Ben Kingsley and Chloe Grace Moretz for “Hugo.”
- Tilda Swinton for “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”
- David Fincher, Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara on “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”
- Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer for “The Help.”
- Tate Taylor for “The Help.”
- Gavin O’Connor for “Warrior.”
- Gary Oldman and Colin Firth for “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”
- Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody for “Young Adult.”
- Steve McQueen for “Shame.”
- Glenn Close for “Albert Nobbs.”
- Seth Rogen and Will Reiser for “50/50.”
For complete Oscar and Film Festival coverage, visit our Awards Alley for the latest news items, reviews and interviews all season long.
Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.
Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

By Sean O’Connell
hollywoodnews.com: Meryl Streep’s “The Iron Lady” is starting to screen, as the Weinstein Company positions the actress for an Oscar campaign that will pit her against some formidable names (Viola Davis, Tilda Swinton and Glenn Close appear to be her closest competition).
But the race to honor Streep began weeks ago, when the acting legend received the Kennedy Center honors … and a loving tribute from some of her closest friends and professional “fans.”
Expect to hear plenty more about Streep in the coming weeks as the Oscar race heads into Phase Two. But before that begins, here’s a sweet, earnest tribute to an immensely gifted artist:

Awards Alley brings you the best Oscar coverage. Click below to read our exclusive interviews with:
- Harvey Weinstein
- The cast of “The Artist.”
- Kenneth Branagh for “My Week With Marilyn.”
- Sir Ben Kingsley and Chloe Grace Moretz for “Hugo.”
- Tilda Swinton for “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”
- David Fincher, Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara on “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”
- Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer for “The Help.”
- Tate Taylor for “The Help.”
- Gavin O’Connor for “Warrior.”
- Gary Oldman and Colin Firth for “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”
- Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody for “Young Adult.”
- Steve McQueen for “Shame.”
- Glenn Close for “Albert Nobbs.”
- Seth Rogen and Will Reiser for “50/50.”
For complete Oscar and Film Festival coverage, visit our Awards Alley for the latest news items, reviews and interviews all season long.
Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.
Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: Sequels duked it out at the holiday box office, with a fourth “Mission: Impossible” triumphing over a second “Sherlock Holmes” to walk away with the (estimated) box office crown.
Monitoring figures for the Friday-Sunday frame, Brad Bird’s thrilling “Ghost Protocol” earned an estimated $26.5 million, putting it ahead of Guy Ritchie’s second “Holmes,” which grabbed $17.8M in its second stint. That marked a 55% drop in attendance for “Game of Shadows.” To date, the explosive sequel has pocketed $76.5M. Could a third “Sherlock Holmes” happen if these figures persist?
Elsewhere, as Oscar contenders entered the marketplace, David Fincher’s bleak “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” earned $21.4 million since opening late last Tuesday. And Steven Spielberg’s newcomer, “The Adventures of Tintin,” posted a $17.1 million figure since opening on Dec. 21. (The Oscar-winning director also opened “War Horse” on Christmas Day, and we’ll track that film’s progress all week.)
Fox can’t be thrilled with “We Bought a Zoo,” which earned an estimated $7.8 million, for a sixth-place finish on the weekend. It leads us to question if the two paid sneaks that took place weeks ago bit into Cameron Crowe’s potential box office.
And the studio’s third “Alvin and the Chipmunks” isn’t meeting the financial levels of its predecessors. Each passed the $200 million mark, while “Chipwrecked” sits at $50.2M after two weekends.
Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.
Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

By Scott Mendelson
HollywoodNews.com: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo feels like a James Patterson novel drained of all color and pulpiness while given a somber air of alleged gravity and importance. That is not entirely an insult, as I enjoy trashy crime fiction and the kind of thrillers Paramount used to put out with regularity in the late 1990s. So if I tell you that this film plays like a drawn-out, overly pretentious, and ice-cold extended episode of Criminal Minds, that’s not quite the insult you might make it out to be. I rather enjoy Criminal Minds and its James Patterson meets Justice League construction. But how I wish that this film, which is arguably less suspenseful and (by virtue of its toned down violence) less sensational then the Swedish original, embraced its pulpy roots just a bit more. Come what may, if I may paraphrase Ty Burr, asking David Fincher to direct this material is like asking Picasso to paint a fence. What it earns in earnestness, it loses in pure entertainment value.
For much of the running time, it is a rather dull thriller in which a relatively dull reporter (Daniel Craig) attempts to solve a mystery with absolutely no urgency. The would-be investigation mostly comprises of Mr. Craig (admittedly more charming than usual due to not having to play a pure alpha male) conducting painfully dry interviews with generally uninteresting people which generally yield no real information and provide little insight into the cast of characters. And, without going into details, the major reveal is made painfully obvious pretty much right from the get-go (and a second major reveal is strongly hinted at pretty early on), which makes the majority of the film 2/3 into a bit of a chore when the focus is on cracking the case. As for the ‘breakout character’, Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) is barely in the film for the first half, and her scenes are so disconnected from the main narrative that her arc feels like a separate (and arguably superior) film altogether. Yes, Salander and Craig’s Blomkvist eventually do cross paths, and the film is better for it when they do, but the first half of the picture is basically a very boring and conventional mystery occasionally interrupted by a far more interesting character study.
As for the title character, if the film [...]

By Sean O’Connell
hollywoodnews.com: It earned the tagline, “The Feel-Bad Movie of the Christmas Season.” But early figures indicate plenty of people are interested in a Black Christmas this weekend.
David Fincher’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” got a jump-start on the holiday box office frame Tuesday night, opening in the late evening to collect a few ticket sales ahead of its “official” opening today.
Read our review of the film right here!
THR reports that Fincher’s adaptation of Larsson’s novel took in an estimated $1.6 million Tuesday night. As the trade points out, comparisons to similar openings “are difficult, since it’s unusual to open a film in the early evening,” and the film’s expected to increase its business through word of mouth as Sony hopes it will be “the adult alternative to other Christmas pics.”
That includes two features from Steven Spielberg in “War Horse” and “The Adventures of Tintin,” as well as Cameron Crowe’s uplifting family drama, “We Bought a Zoo.”
Awards Alley brings you the best Oscar coverage. Click below to read our exclusive interviews with:
- Harvey Weinstein
- The cast of “The Artist.”
- Kenneth Branagh for “My Week With Marilyn.”
- Sir Ben Kingsley and Chloe Grace Moretz for “Hugo.”
- Tilda Swinton for “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”
- David Fincher, Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara on “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”
- Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer for “The Help.”
- Tate Taylor for “The Help.”
- Gavin O’Connor for “Warrior.”
- Gary Oldman and Colin Firth for “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”
- Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody for “Young Adult.”
- Steve McQueen for “Shame.”
- Glenn Close for “Albert Nobbs.”
- Seth Rogen and Will Reiser for “50/50.”
For complete Oscar and Film Festival coverage, visit our Awards Alley for the latest news items, reviews and interviews all season long.
Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.
Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

By Sean O’Connell
hollywoodnews.com: Lisbeth Salander is back on the hunt.
The cyber-punk heroine of Stieg Larsson’s “Millennium” trilogy has been resurrected from the pages of the best-selling novel for a maudlin, stormy adaptation guided by cinematic master David Fincher. Though audiences around the world are intimately familiar with Larsson’s missing-persons mystery from the book and a 2009 Swedish film version, those who check out the latest “Dragon Tattoo” will find invigorating new translations courtesy of Fincher’s relentlessly unique approach to some of the story’s universal themes.
In New York City lately, the director addressed the media with his two leads – Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig – in tow for a lively conversation about unlikely relationships, Larsson’s appeal, and the power of Lisbeth, who Mara does not want to treat like an up-and-coming feminine superhero.
Read our review of the film right here!
“I hope not. That was never our intention. We always wanted to make her human. We never thought of her as a comic-book hero,” Mara told the press.
When casting for Lisbeth, Fincher says he was looking for “a magnetic” response to Craig’s protagonist.
“They’re sort of unable to be close to one another. They sort of push off of each other,” the director explained. “So I started looking at the things about Lisbeth that I wanted to see. And I didn’t see them initially in anyone that we were looking at. And Rooney was right under our noses in that I’d already spent four or five days with her on ‘The Social Network.’
“But again, when you cast somebody, you cast them for an inherent kind of quality,” Fincher continued. “You are going to be shooting 14-hour days. You are going to be tired. You’re not going to be able to conjure an armor or a façade every single moment. You want the actor to have a quality that you can’t beat out of them with a tire iron, that is that thing. And innate quality that they have. Rooney was somebody that we brought back time and time again, not because we didn’t see what we were looking for, but because initially … the problems that she was solving for me in ‘The Social Network’ – she was intensely feminine, very mature, warm, verbal, trying to build a bridge desperately to Jesse [Eisenberg] in that five-and-a-half minutes that she’s on screen – none of those qualities apply [...]

By Sean O’Connell
hollywoodnews.com: A few quick new items on the Oscar front this morning before I run off to interviews on behalf of David Fincher’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” (which I’ll have on the site shortly):
- Brad Pitt opens up about the behind-the-scenes negotiations that led to Steven Soderbergh being bumped off of “Moneyball.” It’s a great read, if you liked the film as much as I do. In the piece, Amy Pascal calls Pitt the “soul and spirit of this movie. He is the driving force behind it, in all of its troubled times and all the best times. He championed it all the way and never lost heart.” Totally agree.
- Christopher Plummer (“Beginners,” “Dragon Tattoo”) will receive a Modern Master Award at this year’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
- Focus Features has invited Writers Guild of America members to view Dee Rees’s “Pariah” through an exclusive screener site operated by fulfillment house Deluxe Media Management. The digital screener was made available to WGA members until Jan 6, 2012. The free rental is for a 48-hour period, which allows WGA members to watch the 86-minute feature film straight through, or to pause their viewing and then return to it within the allotted time period. I have to wonder if this, indeed, is the future of FYC screeners.
- And while I run off an speak with the cast and crew of Fincher’s “Dragon Tattoo,” here is the director and his collaborators on the Charlie Rose Show:

Awards Alley brings you the best Oscar coverage. Click below to read our exclusive interviews with:
- Harvey Weinstein
- The cast of “The Artist.”
- Sir Ben Kingsley and Chloe Grace Moretz for “Hugo.”
- Tilda Swinton for “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”
- Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer for “The Help.”
- Tate Taylor for “The Help.”
- Gavin O’Connor for “Warrior.”
- Gary Oldman and Colin Firth for “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”
- Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody for “Young Adult.”
- Steve McQueen for “Shame.”
- Glenn Close for “Albert Nobbs.”
- Seth Rogen and Will Reiser for “50/50.”
For complete Oscar and Film Festival coverage, visit our Awards Alley for the latest news items, reviews and interviews all season long.
Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.
Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

By Sean O’Connell
hollywoodnews.com: This time of the year, everyone has a Top 10 list (even us, which we’ll post soon). This morning, MTV got into the annual ranking competition for the first time, naming David Fincher’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” as the Best Film of 2011.
Coincidentally, I’m writing this in an airport waiting to board a plane to go speak with Fincher and his cast. I’ll be sure to ask them about this prestigious recognition.
The network says “Dragon Tattoo” star Rooney Mara, who accomplishes the unenviable task of bringing gothic enigma Lisbeth Salander to life, will accept an award on behalf of the film this evening (at 4:59 p.m. ET) on MTV.
Read our review of Fincher’s latest right here.
“We all fell in love with this movie from the moment we saw it,” MTV News’ Josh Horowitz tells THR. “We all love the work of David Fincher, we all were blown away by Rooney Mara, in this amazing performance of this iconic character, and thrilled by the kind of world that David Fincher created.”
MTV’s complete Top 10 also included:
2. Drive
3. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2
4. Bridesmaids
5. Hugo
6. X-Men: First Class
7. The Muppets
8. 50/50
9. The Descendants
10. Attack the Block
Awards Alley brings you the best Oscar coverage. Click below to read our exclusive interviews with:
- Harvey Weinstein
- The cast of “The Artist.”
- Sir Ben Kingsley and Chloe Grace Moretz for “Hugo.”
- Tilda Swinton for “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”
- Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer for “The Help.”
- Tate Taylor for “The Help.”
- Gary Oldman and Colin Firth for “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”
- Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody for “Young Adult.”
- Steve McQueen for “Shame.”
- Glenn Close for “Albert Nobbs.”
- Seth Rogen and Will Reiser for “50/50.”
For complete Oscar and Film Festival coverage, visit our Awards Alley for the latest news items, reviews and interviews all season long.
Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.
Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News