The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a 2011 mystery thriller film based on the 2005 novel by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. It was directed by David Fincher with a screenplay by Steven Zaillian. Starring Daniel Craig as journalist Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, it tells the story of Blomkvist's investigation to find out what happened to a girl from a wealthy family who disappeared 40 years ago. He recruits the help of Salander, a computer hacker. Sony Pictures Entertainment began development on the film in 2009, a co-production of the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany. It took the company a few months to obtain the rights to the novel, while also recruiting Zaillian and Fincher. The casting process for the lead roles was exhaustive and intense; Craig faced scheduling conflicts, and a number of actresses were sought for the role of Lisbeth Salander. The script took over six months to write, which included three months of analyzing the novel. The film premiered at Odeon Leicester Square in London on December 12, 2011. A critical and commercial success, the film grossed $232.6 million on a $90 million budget and received widespread critical acclaim, with praise for Craig and Mara's performances as well as Fincher's direction, the score, and the film's tone and visuals. The film was chosen by National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2011 and was a candidate for numerous awards, winning, among others, the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, while Mara's performance earned her an nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Source: Wikipedia (en)