Why was the Millennium trilogy remade in English so soon after the Swedish original?
The movies based on the novels of Stieg Larsson were produced in 2009 in Sweden, e.g. "Män som hatar kvinnor" by Niels Arden Oplev. It was published in many countries with new voices (e.g. German).
Only 2 years later in 2011 a remake was produced: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by David Fincher. Sometimes between an original and a remake there even lie decades.
What was the reason for a remake only 2 years afterwards? I heard rumors that they needed an English version (without subtitles and any translations), but that doesn't seem to make quite much sense to me.
Best Answer
This BBC News report states that there was actual room for making a big business with an English language film trilogy. Quote:
Telling a story of murder, corruption and family secrets, the late author's Millennium Trilogy has sold more than 65 million copies worldwide and spawned a series of Swedish films made in 2009.
Although a hit in Larsson's native country taking 110m Swedish krona (£10.3m, $16m) within three months of release, it had a muted reception in the US and UK, taking just $10m (£6.4m) and £1.5m respectively.
Now the book has had a Hollywood makeover with a $100m (£64m) budget and Oscar-nominated director David Fincher and Schindler's List scribe Steve Zaillian at the helm.
The prediction was correct. The first Swedish film had a box office of $104,384,415 (for a budget of $13 million), while the first American film had $232,617,430 (for a budget of $90 million).
As I said in a comment above, a remake only two or three years after the original is not that uncommon - see the Wikipedia List of film remakes for several examples.
Pictures about "Why was the Millennium trilogy remade in English so soon after the Swedish original?"
Is the Millennium Trilogy movies in English?
And while there are English dubs on all three, why would anyone watch them that way. The original Swedish language versions are all here and the subtitles are easy to read.Is the Millennium series in English?
THE MILLENNIUM SERIES (English-language) adaptation/s (2010s decade) - IMDb.Is the Millennium series the same as the films?
Yes. The Millennium TV miniseries is a compilation of the three Swedish film adaptations, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest with extended scenes, adding more depth in both the stories and the characters.Drama - The Millennium Trilogy (Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist)
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Images: Ann H, Markus Winkler, Pixabay, Pixabay