Michael and Noomi as Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander

This time next year, moviegoers in America will be introduced to a world-wide phenomenon, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

Americans who can handle foreign films were actually introduced to the original Swedish  film in May 2010, but apparently subtitles are bothersome.

I am a huge fan of the “Millennium Trilogy” series on which the movies are based, and I was disappointed to hear that Hollywood couldn’t just let it be. I saw the Swedish film earlier this year with the rest of America that enjoys multi-tasking and I enjoyed it. It was a bit long, but the casting was spot-on. Ask anyone who has read the books and seen any of the Swedish films and they will tell you that Noomi Rapace, in a role which won her the Swedish equivalent of an Oscar for Best Actress, is a powerful Lisbeth Salander and Michael Nyqvist is Kalle F***ing Blomkvist. Period.

The American version, currently filming in Stockholm with David Fincher at the helm, features Daniel Craig in the role of Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Salander. I loved Craig as Bond, but let me put it on the record that I am really not sure about this one. He could either knock it out of the park as the stubborn, yet lovable Blomkvist, or we could have Bond running around Sweden. (Based on the pictures below, it seems like we may have the latter).

Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist. Photo credit: BigPicturePhoto.com

Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Photo Credit: Collider.com

That said, I did read the book as translated into English, didn’t I? I’m sure that some of the details and hidden meanings were lost in the translation, but I still loved the book. Maybe there’s hope for the American version after all.

As food for thought, I give you a list of American remakes that I did enjoy, and invite you to share your own:

• True Lies
• The Italian Job
• The Departed
• The Ring
• The Grudge