<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $90 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $232.6 million </Td> </Tr> <P> The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a 2011 Swedish - American psychological thriller film based on the novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson . This film adaptation was directed by David Fincher and written 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 woman from a wealthy family who disappeared 40 years prior . He recruits the help of Salander, a computer hacker . </P> <P> Sony Pictures Entertainment began development on the film in 2009 . It took the company a few months to obtain the rights to the novel, while recruiting Zaillian and David 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 . </P>

Actor who plays the girl with the dragon tattoo