The upcoming Brian Wilson biopic has a lead actor.  THR reports that Paul Dano has been tapped to star as the brainchild behind The Beach Boys in Love & Mercy.  The film will be directed by Bill Pohlad, a producer on Tree of Life and Into the Wild  Additionally, Trent Reznor’s The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo score collaborator Atticus Ross has signed on to “design the film’s soundscape.” The pic will cover several decades of Wilson’s life as he struggles with mental illness and his relationship with his wife.  For those unfamiliar, Wilson was one of the formative members of The Beach Boys and is largely responsible for the masterpiece that is Pet Sounds.  Hit the jump for more details.

[Update: We've received the press release which includes comments from Wilson himself regarding the casting.  Read on after the jump]

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross earned Oscars for their The Social Network score.  They reunited for David Fincher‘s new film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the duo have outdone themselves.  Reznor announced on his website that he and Ross have created “a sprawling three-hour opus”, and if you want to pre-order it, you’ve got some options.  There’s the old-fashioned digital download for $12, the higher quality Apple Lossless or FLAC download for $14, the 3-disc CD for $14, or you can go nuts with a $300 limited edition on the box set.

Hit the jump to find out what’s included on the $300 edition.  After the jump, you’ll also find the 8-minute trailer that debuted to select audiences earlier this fall.  Finally, do you remember that awesome cover of “Immigrant Song” that played with the movie’s teaser trailer?  It’s on the soundtrack, and you can download it right now from iTunes.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opens December 21st.

I’m not really sure about the value of viral marketing, but I guess there’s numbers to back up why studios keep doing it.  I suppose it’s appropriate for David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo since it’s in the mystery genre and now the film’s Tumblr blog, “Mouth Taped Shut“, has led to a new viral site [via /Film], “Comes Forth in the Thaw“.  All that’s on the site right now is some of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ eerie score with an occasional line of dialogue playing over a slide show of images from the movie including Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) leaving a courthouse or an image from outside the cabin where he works with Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) to solve the case of a young woman who disappeared forty years ago.

Click the corresponding link above to check out the viral site.  I’m not sure if it only has new images to offer or if anything else will come forth from the thaw.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opens December 21st.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross picked up Oscars for their score for The Social Network.  The duo has re-teamed for Fincher’s new film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and some of their score is played over a new promo video for the film.  The promo video doesn’t show any footage from the film, but it does show a cool look at how a metal poster for the movie gets made.  As for the score, it sounds how you would expect a Reznor score to sound like: mechanical and ambient.  I don’t much care for it right now, but I felt the same way about the score for The Social Network before I saw the movie and now I dig what Reznor and Ross came up with.

Hit the jump to check out the video.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opens December 21st.

Last week, we reported that Oscar-winner Trent Reznor may co-star and score Timur Bekmambetov’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  Reznor has now taken to the official Nine Inch Nails message boards to clear up some of the confusion as well as comment on the upcoming album from his new band How to Destroy Angels, the future of Nine Inch Nails, and his work with Atticus Ross on the score for David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Hit the jump for Reznor in his own words.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is due out December 21st.  Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is set to open in 3D on June 22, 2012.

I have just endured three painful hours of the Golden Globes.  Thankfully, folks who deserved awards got them (except for Community, which wasn’t even nominated, so way to screw that up, Hollywood Foreign Press Association).  You can click here to check out my live blog of the entire ceremony, but if you just want a listing of who won what, then hit the jump.  The Social Network took home four Golden Globes including Best Score (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross), Best Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin), Best Director (David Fincher), and Best Motion Picture (Drama).

Tonight I’ll be live-blogging the 2011 Golden Globe Awards.  The Golden Globes continue to receive attention because they used to be seen as a reliable indicator of what films would be receiving Orscar love.  However, due to shifting deadlines, Oscar ballots are already due and there’s no way that the Globes can affect the Oscar nominees.  Also, the Globes, which are hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are known for being delightfully carefree with their integrity and will nominate you if you show them enough love.  They’re basically like the MTV Movie Awards except they serve food and there aren’t any sketches.

However, I think host Ricky Gervais will do a fine job tonight and I’m curious to see if the Globes will follow through on their clearly bought-and-paid-for-love of films like Burlesque and The Tourist.  Click here for a list of the nominees and hit the jump for my on-going live-blog and be sure to keep refreshing the page for my comments.  The 2011 Golden Globe Awards air at 8pm (EST) on NBC.

When it was announced that Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame would be doing the music to David Fincher’s The Social Network, audiences began to realize that the film may a bit more than just “the facebook movie”. When the film was released, Reznor’s score was met with wild enthusiasm, and it looks like Fincher liked what he heard as well. Reznor has confirmed that he and his Social Network scoring partner Atticus Ross are doing the score for the director’s next film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which he’s currently filming in Sweden.

Reznor confirmed the news on a podcast with The New York Times’ Jon Pareles. Fincher’s adaptation of the first book in Steig Larsson’s “Millenium Trilogy” stars The Social Network’s Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Robin Wright, Stellan Skarsgard, and Christopher Plummer. At the moment, Fincher’s on a break from filming in order to promote the Blu-Ray/DVD release of The Social Network (as well as get in some nice pre-Oscar facetime), which hits stores on Tuesday. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Steve’s exclusive interview with Fincher from last week. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo will hit theaters on December 21^st.

David Fincher’s The Social Network claimed phenomenal critical success upon its release a mere three weeks ago, and appears to be an early frontrunner for Best Picture of the Year. Part of the film’s accomplishment must be attributed to unsung heroes Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for crafting an electronically hip, unpretentious score, one that drives the film’s narrative without overwhelming the viewer. For me it’s one of the best scores of the year, to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, however, it will be seen as an electronic nightmare, one not worthy of their standards.

Over the years the Oscars have made it perfectly clear that they prefer classical scores to the electronic works that have since taken the cinema world by storm. Michael Giacchino won last year for his inspired work for Pixar and Disney’s Up, a fine score to be sure, but he beat out both Hans Zimmer and James Horner who, one could argue, crafted masterful works for Sherlock Holmes and Avatar (that Leona Lewis song notwithstanding) that were largely electronic in nature. Reznor and Ross’ score carries with it a Zimmer-ish vibe, particularly during the opening credits, but takes its tone one step further, erupting as a full-blown rock album in several instances. Such a fine, well-crafted work should not be overlooked by the Academy. Hit the jump for more.

I will dub 2010 the year of the soundtrack. This summer started strong with Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World soundtrack, with a number of songs written by Beck. Later this year, Joseph Kosinski’s Tron: Legacy will release and Daft Punk is scoring the entire film.  Then we have Trent Reznor scoring David Fincher’s The Social Network, which pushed things to the breaking point. I don’t often buy soundtracks, but having this caliber of mainstream talent (by two artists I adore) behind three of my most anticipated films of this year leaves me no choice. Adding to the anticipation is the fact that Reznor, who co-wrote and produced the soundtrack for the film with Atticus Ross, is releasing five of the tracks for free, right now. Join me after the jump for full details, including a message from Reznor himself and the entire tracklist.