How to play with fire.

Music Box Films & The Millenium Trilogy
An Interview with Brian Andreotti, Marketing, Publicity and Press Inquiries at Music Box Films
By BLAKE GOBLE

You’ve heard this story: Small property comes out of nowhere to become a worldwide pop cultural phenomenon. Harry Potter did it. James Bond did it. Even that damn Twilight is still doing it. Now Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Trilogy i.e., the Lisbeth Salander books are on the verge of becoming an international sensation. No, scratch that. With the American movies about to begin, an H&M clothing line, and heavy marketing putting main character Salander’s name into the pop lexicon, "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is about to become a hyper-mega-global-super phenomenon. Ostentatious, maybe, but seemingly true. And it doesn’t make the story, or stories, for that matter, any less interesting.

How did Larsson get here? How did the books start out as one Swedish writer’s artistic endeavor only to become one of the most lucrative properties out there today? In looking at the growth of a franchise, I spoke with Brian Andreotti of Music Box Films, distributor of the Swedish film’s adaptations of the Millenium Trilogy to Lisbeth’s emergence. Andreotti’s a Northwestern alum who came to the Music Box about 15 years ago and made the move to distribution over the last several years.

How did you come to the “Millenium Trilogy” films?
“That came to, we had a lot of umm, advisors - people we know in the business, this country or internationally in this capacity - and one of our advisors gave us a tip: we should look at this film ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" 2009). We were vaguely aware of this popular book. But we had no idea how big it would become.

We got a screener of the film… I remember watching the film independently. I watched it in bed. I knew there was something there. Lisbeth Salander was such a great character that people would connect with her. It was a very accessible film. It was a thriller mystery that could appeal to an audience beyond art house.”

Did you read the books?
“No, at that point…”

How do you feel about the franchise?
“Yeah! Shortly before we purchased it at Toronto, I don’t think anyone knew … it probably would have been a more aggressive bid…

Harvey Weinstein (of Mirimax Films and the Weinstein Company) regrets not buying those films when he could.”

Where do you feel these films lie in the in the franchise? Coming after the books, but before the Hollywood film.
"We like to think we played a really important part. The films were popular before. Certainly it had a loyal following. We released them, umm, saturation points, reaching critical mass right around the time we released. They just blew up

I was shocked to pick up an EW (Entertainment Weekly) with someone reading the book on the cover. These films added fuel to the fire. Although, had the films not been good, it woulda been a different situation…”

What is the difference between the art and commerce of the Larsson franchise? Is the American film merely a money grab, or an extension and enhancement or appreciation of Larsson’s vision?
"I don’t know. I’m hopeful that they’ll be good. It’s in the best hands it can be. David Fincher. I just don’t reserve. I know there was a lotta controversy over the poster depiction of Lisbeth, she’s overly sexualized, even less powerful than the male lead… so I think people are suspicious. Let’s take a strong character, or attractive, sexualized aspect.

Obviously, it’s just the marketing.

We’ll all have to wait to see.”