I have a theory that David Fincher was not born, but was instead created in a laboratory deep beneath Los Angeles, cobbled together from the body parts of other inimitable auteurs from days past to create an unstoppable director of thematic depth and visual perfection.  I have no evidence to confirm this theory, aside from his filmography, which includes work like Seven, Fight Club, The Social Network, Zodiac, and The Game.  This will be the second year in a row with a new film from Fincher, and everything we've seen from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo looks pretty spectacular, such as a new crop of images featuring stars Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig.

In the film, Craig plays a crusading journalist hired to investigate a woman's decades-ago disappearance.  His search brings him into alignment with Mara as Lisbeth Salander, the titular inked-up woman, a badass hacker with a nose for deep-down investigation and a mind full of nasty memories.  This new photo set puts the sexual tension between the two characters front and center.  Obviously, the images are from the print edition of Empire, but the scans are here for your viewing pleasure thanks to FirstShowing.

The first trailer for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the American take on Swedish journalist Stieg Larsson's hugely popular novel, was like a kick to the solar plexus, a visceral scream of promotion that could very well induce epileptic fits.  In that trailer, release way back in June, the title character Lisbeth Salander, played by Rooney Mara, was almost like bigfoot, appearing only fleetingly.  A new, almost four-minute long extended trailer for David Fincher's take on the material, however, kicks off with Mara's Salander and gives a thorough idea of her approach to the character. Basically, she seems thoroughly badass, undoubtedly brilliant, and borderline autistic.

It also establishes Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist, the journalist whose investigation into the wealthy Vanger family eventually teams him with Salander and leads to no end of trouble for both characters.  Representing the Vangers is Christopher Plummer, being every shade of ominous.  All of this set to what promises to be a great sophomore score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the Oscar winning duo who composed the accompaniment to Fincher's The Social Network.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been found: Rooney Mara, who most recently appeared in the Nightmare on Elm Street remake and will be seen in October's The Social Network, will wear a gloomy expression as Lisbeth Salander, the moody hacker at the center of the blockbuster "Millennium trilogy" and the upcoming films by David Fincher.