Steve Zaillian

Sony Going Ahead with THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Sequels Despite Weak Box Office

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 8th, 2012 at 9:01 pm

David Fincher‘s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opened to disappointing box office although it didn’t absolutely tank.  It’s an R-rated movie opening at the holiday season, but Sony expected a bigger success based on the ridiculous sales of Stieg Larsson‘s novel of the same name.  More worrisome for Sony is that the movie, despite being set out the US, isn’t connecting with international audiences, and according to Deadline, “GWDT pened only 3rd in the UK, and disappointing in Asia, and ‘not as good as hoped for’ in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.”

Sony has held off on giving the greenlight to the sequels, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, but they’ve had Dragon Tattoo screenwriter Steve Zaillian at work on both.  Now the studio has officially pulled the trigger on completing the “Millennium Trilogy”.  Hit the jump for more.

Steven Zaillian May Direct Remake of TIMECRIMES

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: December 18th, 2011 at 9:48 am

Steven Zaillian is having a very good year. One of the best screenwriters working today, Zaillian is responsible for films ranging from Schindler’s List to Gangs of New York.  This year, two of Zaillian’s films are turning lots of heads: Moneyball and David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Steve is currently in New York for the Dragon Tattoo press junket and he got the chance to sit down for an exclusive interview with the prolific scribe.  While we’ll have the full interview up soon, we wanted to share a piece of news that the writer dropped.  In addition to writing, Zaillian has also gotten in the director’s chair a few times (most recently with 2006’s All the King’s Men), and during the course of the interview Zaillian revealed that he’s hoping to direct an American remake of Timecrimes.

The original Spanish film was written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo. Released in 2007, the sci-fi pic centers on a man who relives half an hour of his life three times. Zaillain said that he owns the rights and he’s hoping to write and direct an English-language remake. Hit the jump to see what he had to say, including how his version would differ from Vigalondo’s film.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Sequels Likely Shooting Back to Back

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: December 17th, 2011 at 11:15 am

With director David Fincher‘s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo set to open in a few days, earlier today I attended a press conference in New York City with Fincher, Rooney Mara, and Daniel Craig.  In the coming days I’ll have a transcript (with audio), but I wanted to post a bit of news from the interview today.

Even though the first film has yet to open, with the popularity of Stieg Larson’s Millennium trilogy, it’s almost certain Dragon Tattoo will be a big hit for Sony and they’ll likely move ahead with the sequels as fast as they can.  Since the second and third books (The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) are one story, Fincher was asked if he might shoot the sequels back to back.  Continued after the jump.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Scribe James Vanderbilt to Pen RED RIDING Adaptation

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: May 14th, 2011 at 7:08 am

Back in 2009, when Columbia acquired the rights to the gritty British crime drama series Red Riding, director Ridley Scott was thought to be teaming up with writer Steven Zaillian (American Gangster) once again. Though Zaillian is still producing along with Scott, it seems Columbia will go with the hot hand for a screenwriter. Heat Vision reports that James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) will write the adaptation of the popular British TV movie series.

Red Riding is based on four novels by author David Peace. The series, and upcoming adaptation, follows a large cast of characters related to serial killings and police corruption that span the years from 1974 to 1983. After his work on Zodiac, Vanderbilt should feel right at home in this genre. (And for those of you playing 6 Degrees of Separation, Andrew Garfield, who plays Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man, was featured in the original Red Riding series. Perhaps we’ll see him again, working off of another Vanderbilt script?)

For more on Vanderbilt’s upcoming slate of movies, hit the jump.

Steve Zaillian to Re-Write Jack Ryan Reboot Starring Chris Pine

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 2nd, 2011 at 12:42 pm

Screenwriter Steve Zaillian (American Gangster) is set to re-write the script for the upcoming Jack Ryan reboot starring Chris Pine.  According to Deadline, the film (previously titled Moscow) is not based on any of author Tom Clancy’s previous books.  When we last heard about the film, it was reported that the plot would have Ryan working as an analyst for a Russian billionaire but having to go on the run after being implicated in a terrorist plot. Paramount hopes to start production on the film later this year with Lost director Jack Bender at the helm.  Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing.

Zaillian previously wrote the screenplay for the Jack Ryan film Clear and Present Danger starring Harrison Ford.  Zaillian recently penned the scripts for Moneyball and David Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  He was also recently hired to rewrite the remake the thriller Timecrimes.

Steve Zaillian to Rewrite TIMECRIMES Remake for DreamWorks

by Jason Barr    Posted: January 18th, 2011 at 4:27 pm

Oscar-winning scribe Steve Zaillian (Schindler’s List) will rewrite and produce the remake of 2007′s stellar sci-fi/thriller Timecrimes at DreamWorks.  Originally the film was set up at United Artists with Zaillian producing.  However, in addition to its move to DreamWorks, Deadline is reporting that Zaillian has also committed to rewrite Oscar-nominee Tim Sexton’s (Children of Men) early drafts.

For those of you who’ve yet to check out writer/director/co-star Nacho Vigalondo’s 2007 original, Los cronocrímenes, I would advise that you do so immediately as it’s truly one of the finest time-travel films I’ve ever seen.  Briefly, the film tells the story of a man who repeatedly sends himself back in time so as to undo the events that lead to a terrible crime.  Back to Zaillian, he has been a busy man of late having adapted The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for David Fincher and penned both the upcoming Brad Pitt baseball-flick Moneyball as well as the Martin Scorcese mob-film The Irishman.

David Cronenberg Signs on to Direct Jonathan Lethem’s AS SHE CLIMBED ACROSS THE TABLE

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: June 22nd, 2010 at 2:05 pm

Director David Cronenberg (A History of Violence) is showing no sign of slowing down.  Pajiba reports that Cronenberg is now attached to helm an adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s metaphysical love story As She Climbed Across the Table.  The story centers on Professor Phillip Engstrand who is in love with particle physicist Alice Coombs.  Unfortunately for Phillip, Alice is in love with “The Lack”–a selective black hole–leaving Phillip to basically compete with nothingness for her affection.  It’s an interesting premise and Pajiba says that “They’re going with something in the vein of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”  Steve Zaillian will produce.

Cronenberg’s hasn’t made science fiction film since 1999′s eXistenZ.  He previously signed on to remake his classic 1986 sci-fi horror The Fly.  It’s kind of crazy that he hasn’t done sci-fi in over a decade when you consider he’s so damn good at crafting intelligent and gruesome approaches to the material (although that’s a trademark for the majority of his filmography).  I’m happy that he’ll be returning to the genre, although I don’t know if this project lends itself to the “gruesome” part.  However, I would prefer he do this movie rather than redo The Fly.

Hit the jump for an update on Cronenberg’s other projects.

David Fincher’s THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Slated for December 2011; Sequels Will Be Shot Together

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: May 24th, 2010 at 12:47 pm

Today brings further confirmation that David Fincher will next tackle an adaptation of the Swedish novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as well as details on its release and the possibility of sequels.  Tattoo is the first entry in late author Stieg Larson’s Millennium trilogy, and the third, titled The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, is finally set for American release later this month.  In anticipation of the event, news has arisen that suggests the cinematic adaptation of Tattoo will hit theaters in December 2011 with David Fincher and director Steve Zaillian (American Gangster) on board.  Not only that, but with material at the ready, the two potential sequels would be shot back to back.  Details after the jump.

David Fincher Skips PAWN SACRIFICE; Will Make THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO His Next Film

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: March 31st, 2010 at 11:02 am

David Fincher has chosen to direct the mystery-thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo over the Bobby Fischer biopic Pawn Sacrifice.  According to The Playlist, he was never attached to the latter but did take a meeting with the filmmakers to “help them out.”  Personally, I think it’s a great choice on Fincher’s part, although I am curious to see where this puts him in relation to remaking Heavy Metal.  The Playlist says Fincher is planning to start filming late this fall after he’s finished doing press for The Social Network, his upcoming film about the creation of Facebook.

Hit the jump for more details on Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

David Fincher May Direct THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

by Andrew Robinson    Posted: March 13th, 2010 at 1:34 am

David Fincher (Zodiac) is interested in adapting the novel by Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, into a feature film.  Steve Zaillian (Shindler’s List) will be writing the screenplay and Scott Rudin (Fantastic Mr. Fox) will be producing the picture for Sony.  The novel follows Mikael, a journalist, who is hired to document the Vagner family history but is secretly searching for answers as to the mysterious disappearance of Harriet (Vagner’s niece) which occurred 40 years prior. Eventually he teams up with Lisbeth Salander, a genius hacker with Aspergers Syndrome, to solve this mystery.

According to Vulture a deal is yet to be made official, but there is already talk of Carey Mulligan (An Education) to star in the lead female role of Lisbeth.  The novel is the first in the Millenium trilogy.  What I find most interesting is that the trilogy has already been made into feature films in Sweden which were all released last year.

Hit the jump for the trailer to the first film in this trilogy by Niels Arden Oplev: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

MONEYBALL Starts Throwing Pitches to Other Directors Including Marc Webb and Bennett Mitchell

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 11th, 2009 at 12:20 pm

Last June, Steven Soderbergh’s adaptation of Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball fell apart only three days before shooting was set to begin.  With Brad Pitt as the lead, Moneyball focused on the true story of how the Oakland Athletics became a competitive team by relying on statistics rather than the higher payrolls of their competitors.  It’s unlikely for a film to reach production so soon with a big name director and star and have the plug pulled at the last minute.  However, even though Soderbergh has moved on to other projects (including another one about baseball) Sony Pictures is still looking to move the process forward and meeting with several directors including Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer) and Bennett Miller (Capote).  Hit the jump to see if someone can finally hit this movie.

Ridley Scott and Steve Zaillian Go RED RIDING

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 15th, 2009 at 10:25 am

Columbia has purchased the rights to the novels and British mini-series “Red Riding” about power and police corruption framed around the investigation into the disappearance of several young girls.  The studio is negotiating with Ridley Scott to direct the film and with Steve Zaillian to write the screenplay.  If they both sign on, it will be their third collaboration after “Hannibal” and “American Gangster”.  While it’s no easy task to condense a six-hour miniseries into a two-hour movie, I was impressed with what this year’s “State of Play” was able to accomplish, although a large part of that film’s success was due to how Jason Bateman chose to pronounce the word “garage”. [Variety]

Brad Pitt is Still Hitting Sony’s MONEYBALL – Aaron Sorkin to Re-draft Original Script

by Nicole Pedersen    Posted: July 9th, 2009 at 10:11 pm

The saga of “Moneyball” continued today as Sony announced that Brad Pitt is still attached to star in the big screen adaptation of Michael Lewis’ baseball book.  After unceremoniously pulling the plug on the Steven Soderbergh helmed project just days before filming was set to begin, Sony has not only kept the film in development but has now enlisted the great Aaron Sorkin to redraft Steve Zaillian’s original script.  More after the jump…

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