Thompson on Hollywood

Video: Noomi Rapace Moves Beyond Salander and the Millennium Trilogy

One of the trickiest moves to make as a young star is coping with sudden fame--especially when it is attached to a beloved character. Swedish actress Noomi Rapace created the role of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish films based on Stieg Larsson's "Millennium Trilogy"; the films made her a star all over the world (the trilogy has grossed $220 million so far worldwide – and $110 million for "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." But like the "Twilight" stars, whether she can make a career outside Sweden in other roles, in other languages, is another question. As you can see from the interview below shot in Venice 2010, Rapace speaks fluent English. UPDATE: She has been getting offers from Hollywood, from the "Sherlock Holmes" series to "Prometheus." The question was what she would do with them. Now we know. She's a global star.

By Anne Thompson
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September 7, 2010 12:20 PM
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Somewhere Flies Over the Rainbow to Venice

This weekend you will not be getting any Emmy coverage from me, as I'm off to Italy, first for a Roman holiday, then to Venice via speed train to cover the festival. There I expect to see Somewhere--as well as talk to director Sofia Coppola. Focus has released a new clip, below.

By Anne Thompson
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August 26, 2010 8:23 AM
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No Oscar Future for Dragon Tattoo or Rapace

It's all very well for folks to love the books and/or movies of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels, but the notion that these films will somehow have an Oscar future is silly. Throwing Rapace into the Oscar race while she's in town for meetings reeks of media manipulation. UTA is fanning the flames while they've got the chance to score some major deals for her. And so far, contrary to Deadline's report, nobody has made an offer to BK-PR's Melody Korenbrot, who usually promotes Sony Pictures Classics fare, about running a Rapace Oscar campaign.

By Anne Thompson
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August 18, 2010 12:54 PM
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Dragon Tattoo's Rapace Goes Hollywood as Remake Goes English, Jolie as Go-To Action Star

- Noomi Rapace took herself out of the running for David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - the Swedish adaptation won her the country's Oscar equivalent for best actress. Rapace wants to expand her career in new directions, and is spending the week in LA meeting with directors, according to THR (including McG and Ridley Scott), producers (Avi Arad and Lorenzo Di Bonaventura) and studio executives at Paramount and Warner Bros. to plan her attack. Repped by UTA and fluent in English, Rapace could burst into Hollywood off the momentum of Dragon Tattoo's success. But it's Rooney Mara who will grab the career hype as she channels Stieg Larsson's counter-cultural anti-heroine for Millennium Trilogy fans, who are already salivating for a better screen version of the story. While Mara's performance will be compared to Rapace's when The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opens in December 2011, it will be seen by far more people. Both actresses' lives have changed because of Lisbeth Salander.

By Sophia Savage
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August 17, 2010 3:49 AM
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Women in Hollywood: Salander vs. Gilbert, Bullock Is Forbes #1, Rom-Com Actresses, Lady Gaga

- Two literary characters--Lisbeth Salander and Elizabeth Gilbert--built huge fan bases of women book lovers well before the characters hit the big screen. Fans eagerly await the news of who David Fincher will cast as Salander in the English-language version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (and subsequent sequels); the Swedish originals starred Noomi Rapace. And author Elizabeth Gilbert is days away from watching herself portrayed by Julia Roberts in Eat Pray Love.

By Sophia Savage
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August 4, 2010 5:02 AM
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Millenium Trilogy Sequels will open in U.S. in 2010

Chicago indie distrib Music Box will open the two sequels to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (in current release) this summer. Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy kept me up late many nights in a row. So even though the first Swedish film adaptation disappointed me--it's a by-the-numbers thriller--I am still eager to see The Girl Who Played with Fire, which is the strongest of the three books, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, which is a tough political attack on Swedish Intelligence. The three Swedish films starring Noomi Rapace and Mikael Nyqvist as bisexual hacker Lisbeth Salander and muckraking journalist Mikael Blomqvist are huge hits all over the world. And the first two books are also bestsellers stateside; the third one, which I purchased in London, is set for U.S. publication in May. (Trailers on jump.)

By Anne Thompson
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March 24, 2010 6:11 AM
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SXSW Unveils Line-Up

The nine-day film SXSW film fest opens March 12 with the world premiere of Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass, starring Aaron Johnson, Cholë Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who will all attend a Conversation panel at the SXSW Film Conference, along with the comic's writers, Mark Millar and John S. Romita.

By Anne Thompson
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February 4, 2010 5:00 AM
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Swedish Trilogy on Tarantino/Pitt Wish-List?

So far, with the exception of Jackie Brown (based on an Elmore Leonard novel) Quentin Tarantino has preferred to direct and write originals. While he has exec-produced a few things and been tempted by the odd Speed Racer or James Bond, he has never rarely succumbed to adaptation temptation.