Blank Check — Patreon: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free)

Published 2023-11-05; 2:52:53 by the feed.

As extracted (engineer-sonnet-2026-10-13)

The extraction calls the show “Blank Check with Griffin & David (Patreon)” and the episode “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free)”.

Hosts: Griffin Newman, David Sims, Ben Hosley. Guests: Fran Hoepfner.

Subject films: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).

On the transcript: Unlabeled, heavily garbled auto-transcript; the first 12 minutes are a cold open and bit. Speaker attributions are mostly low-confidence guesses because the Fincher-commentary recitations could be any host.

Films that came up

Claims (57)

people (casting rationale): David Fincher → Stellan Skarsgard. Fincher cast Skarsgard as the villain because he is the most relaxed, comfortable man, which makes viewers rethink evil.
“Stone Scarsgard is the most relaxed person on earth.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:06:07 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (blank check compared): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Button, not Dragon Tattoo, is probably Fincher's biggest blank check.
“I think Benjamin Button ended up being the bigger one, but this was such a like...”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:12:26 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
lineage (sequel/reboot): The Girl in the Spider's Web → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Spider's Web is the reboot after Fincher's film; the speaker finds it ill advised to abandon Mara.
“especially when the thing that everyone liked most about this movie was that performance and how quickly they abandoned it.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:16:06 · Fran Hoepfner (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (bestseller adaptation compared): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → Fifty Shades of Grey. Dragon Tattoo is grouped with Da Vinci Code and Fifty Shades as studio bets on bestsellers; this one underperformed.
“And in other cases of shit like Da Vinci code or Fifty Shades of Grey, where there's a best-selling book,”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:17:21 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (recast role): The Girl in the Spider's Web → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Vicky Krieps plays the Robin Wright role in Spider's Web.
“She plays the Robin Wright role.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:18:14 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
lineage (adaptation): Dracula (Bram Stoker's novel) → The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Demeter is based on the opening chapters of Stoker's Dracula, as its card says.
“based on the opening chapters of Brown Stoker's Dracula.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:31:47 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (same-year Dracula films): The Last Voyage of the Demeter → Renfield. Universal released two Dracula spinoffs in one year, neither titled Dracula.
“They did 2 different takes at like, how do you make a sideways draft?”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:32:48 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (look compared): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish, 2009) → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Rewatching the Swedish film, the speaker finds the two do not look alike despite the shot-for-shot-remake talk.
“these things don't fucking look similar at...”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:34:11 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
people (directed and starred): Viggo Mortensen → The Dead Don't Hurt. Mortensen directed and stars in a Western, with Vicky Krieps.
“he's got this Western this year that he directed, that he's also in...”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:40:28 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (timeline): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → The Social Network. Social Network came out a bit more than a year before.
“just a little more than a year before this film, obviously.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:43:19 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (rumor): David Fincher → Pawn Sacrifice. Fincher was rumored to direct Pawn Sacrifice but says he only consulted on the script.
“he was briefly rumored to be directing pawn sacrifice.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:43:31 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
career (parallel project): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → Mindhunter. Between The Social Network and Dragon Tattoo, Fincher developed Mindhunter with Charlize Theron.
“starts developing Mindhunter with Charlie's Theron, who is a producer.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:43:45 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (recent work): Steven Zaillian → Moneyball. Zaillian had just worked on Moneyball.
“who had just worked on Moneyball.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:45:57 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (passed on): Steven Zaillian → The Silence of the Lambs. Zaillian was first choice to adapt Silence of the Lambs and regretted passing.
“Steven Salian was the 1st choice to adapt the Silence of the Lambs, and his wife had told him, don't do it.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:46:23 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (affairs line): Aloha → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Pascal's reported 'people don't want affairs' lesson is tied to Aloha.
“People never want to watch movies about affairs.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:47:31 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
lineage (adaptation): Stieg Larsson → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The film is Zaillian's abridged adaptation of Larsson's novel, which loses nothing major.
“I think this is an excellent piece of adaptation that does not really, like, skip anything major.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:49:09 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
craft (structure compared): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish, 2009) → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The Swedish version is a near one-to-one transposition with no act structure; Fincher's feels dramatic.
“the Swedish one is almost so one-to-one that it has no ax structure.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:52:03 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (tension compared): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → Jaws. The first hour's wait for the leads to meet is likened to Brody facing the shark.
“as if it's like Brody coming face to face with the shark.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:52:18 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (violence compared): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → A Clockwork Orange. Fincher cites Clockwork Orange as film where rape is offensive, not titillating.
“It's a power of clock or orange.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:53:32 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (violence compared): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → Straw Dogs. Fincher names Straw Dogs as challenging ideas of revenge.
“I holy respect straw dogs or even star 80.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:53:35 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (violence compared): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → Star 80. Fincher mentions Star 80 in the same breath.
“I holy respect straw dogs or even star 80.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:53:35 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
lineage (influence): Bob Fosse → David Fincher. Fincher loves Fosse.
“Well, he loves Fosse.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:53:44 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (influence): All That Jazz → David Fincher. The speaker says Fincher loves Fosse and always cites All That Jazz.
“All that jazz is like a recurring influence.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:53:45 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (remake): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish, 2009) → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The Fincher film is the American remake of the Swedish original; its director says he was not worried.
“Everyone who loves film will go see the original.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:54:19 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (remake analogy): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish, 2009) → La Femme Nikita. Oplev likens an American Dragon Tattoo to the American version of La Femme Nikita.
“what would you want to see the French version of La Femme Nikita or the American one?”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:54:21 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (remake analogy): Martin Scorsese → Infernal Affairs. Griffin compares Oplev's situation to Scorsese taking a crack at Infernal Affairs.
“That's a bit of a like Scorsese Infernal Affairs thing where you're just like, look, if that guy wants to take a crack at it, who am I to stand in the way?”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:54:35 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
unmapped (shoot schedule): Daniel Craig → The Adventures of Tintin. Fincher met Craig on the set of Tintin to persuade him.
“He meets with Craig to try to convince him to take the role while filming Tintin.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:55:03 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (casting rationale): David Fincher → Rooney Mara. Fincher wanted someone who cannot be discouraged, the last puppy in the window.
“I want the last puppy in the window.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:57:25 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (casting rationale): David Fincher → Scarlett Johansson. Fincher reportedly said Johansson could not be cast without being titillating.
“there is no way to not make Scarlett Johansson titillating.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:00:05 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (casting contrast): Scarlett Johansson → Under the Skin. Under the Skin shows Johansson was wrong for Lisbeth: audiences want to see her.
“The proof that she's wrong for this part is under the skin, right?”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:00:51 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career contrast): Rooney Mara → The Social Network. After Dragon Tattoo, Social Network feels like the anomaly in her career.
“now I think social network feels like kind of the anomaly.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:03:01 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career run): Rooney Mara → Carol. Her run from Social Network to Carol is strong.
“her run basically from like social network to Carol is pretty strong.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:04:54 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (voice role): Rooney Mara → Kubo and the Two Strings. Mara is very good as the voice of two characters in Kubo.
“She's so good as a voice in Kubo and the 2 strings.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:05:15 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (shared cinematographer): Jeff Cronenweth → The Social Network. Fincher fired the Swedish DP and brought in Cronenweth, his Social Network collaborator.
“brought in Jeff Cronin with his social network collaborator.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:10:44 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (visual reference): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → Sven Nykvist. Someone on the shoot (Fincher, or the DP by the garbled name) wanted a Sven Nykvist look: warm fires, cold rooms.
“I wanted to do a whole Sven Nikfist thing”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:11:05 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
craft (visual effects): Lola Visual Effects → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Lola tracked a hair gap into reshot footage.
“So Lola, the special effects house, who's like one of the best, they do like all the de-aging, they're like top level.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:11:51 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (quoted line): Blue Velvet → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The fuck-you-you-fucking-fuck shirt is believed to originate from Dennis Hopper's line in Blue Velvet.
“Hopper says that in blue velvet.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:24:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
theme (character setup compared): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → Michael Clayton. Both open on a protagonist already broken by past failure.
“It's the Michael Clayton thing I love of like, you start this movie with a character”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:25:22 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
lineage (loose remake): Priest → The Searchers. Priest is a loose remake of The Searchers.
“It's a loose remake of the searchers.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:29:58 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career run): Christopher Plummer → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. His 80s run: Beginners, Knives Out, Dragon Tattoo, All the Money in the World.
“I think if you just say his 80s contains beginners, knives out, girl with the dragon tattoo, all the money in the world.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:30:42 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
career (early career): Christopher Plummer → The Sound of Music. Plummer was in The Sound of Music.
“Friend, did you know that he was in the sound of music?”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:31:05 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (performance): Christopher Plummer → Beginners. Plummer plays a father who comes out in his 80s in Beginners.
“He's Ewan McGregor's dad, who comes out in his 80s.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:31:51 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (shared actor): David Dencik → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish, 2009). Dencik is the only person in both the Swedish and Fincher films.
“He's the only guy in both.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:37:20 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (shared actor): Yorick van Wageningen → The Chronicles of Riddick. The actor of the new guardian was one of the scummy villains in Riddick.
“He's one of the guys, one of the scummy criminal escapey villains in Chronicles of Riddick.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:39:26 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (go-on-computer compared): Black Hat → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Black Hat is the ultimate he-go-on-computer movie, the end of an era Dragon Tattoo began.
“I mean, that's the ultimate he go on computer movie.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:42:01 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career step): Noomi Rapace → Prometheus. Prometheus was her first big Hollywood job after the original Dragon Tattoo.
“that's her 1st big Hollywood post original Dragon.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:50:37 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (director's film): Clint Eastwood → Richard Jewell. Clint's Richard Jewell is described as nuanced for late-period Clint.
“no, I think the characterizations in Richard Jewel are, like, surprisingly, uh, uh, nuance, considering it's late period Clint.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:01:41 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (torture scene compared): Casino Royale → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Craig's Casino Royale torture scene is hall of fame; he plays being tortured well here too.
“the casino royale scene is like hall of fame playing being tortured.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:23:16 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
theme (analogy): Vincente Minnelli → David Fincher. Fincher getting a murder basement is like giving a basketball to Michael Jordan, or Minnelli letting Gene Kelly dance.
“Concinte Manelli being like, and Gene Kelly, I now just let you dance.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:23:50 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (shared subject compared): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo → Aaron Sorkin. Lisbeth is cast as everything Fincher likes about Zuckerberg minus the things he hates.
“I feel like Elizabeth is everything that Fincher likes about Zuckerberg minus the things he hates about him.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:30:24 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (performance compared): Daniel Craig → Andrew Garfield. Craig is doing the Andrew Garfield cutie-sweetie thing from Social Network.
“And Daniel Craig is doing the Andrew Garfield thing of being a cutie little sweetie.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:31:06 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (shared composers): The Social Network → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Reznor and Ross scored both films; the speaker listens to the Dragon Tattoo score more than Social Network's.
“I listen to more than the social network score.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:31:49 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
craft (score analogy): Trent Reznor → Superman. Reznor's pivot to a dark score is compared to John Williams cracking his knuckles for the Superman score.
“This is like John Williams in 79 cracking his knuckles to do the Superman score.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:32:18 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
industry (box office context): Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Ghost Protocol was number one, Game of Shadows number two, Dragon Tattoo number three that weekend.
“Okay. Number two, is Dragon Tattoo?”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:34:58 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
industry (same-weekend release): Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Game of Shadows opened two weeks before and held at number two.
“Sherlock Holmes. a game of Shadows.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:35:13 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
unmapped (template): The Muppets → Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. The Force Awakens uses the Muppets' fan-driven legacy reboot as its template.
“it feels like Force Awakens is using that as the template.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:38:36 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (awards year compared): The Artist → The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Weinstein's campaign made The Artist a populist favorite while Dragon Tattoo won only editing.
“One of the last and worst tricks that Weinstein played on us was like, everyone loves this”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:41:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items (24)

fun, about Stellan Skarsgard: Fincher on the commentary: he cast Skarsgard as the villain because the most relaxed, comfortable man makes viewers re-question evil.
“Stone Scarsgard is the most relaxed person on earth.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:06:07 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Scott Rudin: Rudin's assistants knew from a speakerphone button that it was time to bring him string cheese.
“Ruden's take was he pushed the polio button on his speakerphone.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:23:38 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Amy Pascal: Pascal's pitch that got Fincher to do it: a blockbuster franchise for adults.
“This is your chance to make like a blockbuster franchise for adults.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:25:02 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Aloha: Pascal's lesson: people never want to watch movies about affairs.
“People never want to watch movies about affairs.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:47:31 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Zaillian and Fincher stopped fighting the structure and accepted a five-act story.
“we just need to accept this as a 5 act story, which is unconventional, but if they're ever going to let us do it, they're going to let us do it on this movie.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:51:41 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Rooney Mara: Fincher on the commentary: Sony did not want her, so he asked for the last puppy in the window, someone who cannot be discouraged.
“I want the last puppy in the window.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:57:25 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Rooney Mara: Two of her five full screen tests were in the Batman suit.
“And 2 of them were in the Batman suit, which is weird.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:58:27 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Rooney Mara: Fincher's studio argument: like ET merchandise before the film, she looks odd until you have seen her do it.
“ET was the example I kept on making to the studio of like, if ET merchandise was on the shelves before the movie came out.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:59:38 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Rooney Mara: On how Mara looks in Women Talking: made of wet napkins.
“She's made out of wet napkins.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:07:59 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: About 35 percent of the movie was reshot; the wall of suspects was reshot most.
“it felt like 35% of this movie was reshot.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:10:19 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Fincher: a reshoot cost money because a hair gap, the Louise Brooks gap, was missing from half the scene and had to be tracked in.
“which he refers to as like the Louise Brooks gap”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:11:27 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Lisbeth Salander: The only sweet thing she does: walks into a room and says 'hey, hey', twice.
“she walks into a room and says, hey, hey, which is so sweet.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:15:01 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Rooney Mara: Her line 'may I kill him' was Fincher's invention; in the book Martin just drives off a cliff.
“He said that line was his creation.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:16:10 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Lisbeth Salander: A hacker who uses a Mac; the book is full of laptop spec detail.
“It was pointed out to me how funny it is that she uses a Mac”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:18:07 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Ben Hosley: Ben's long-pitched witch hackers concept, folded into his Night Eggs screenplay.
“I think that there should be witch hackers in movies where they literally manipulate the computer through spell.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:20:25 · Ben Hosley (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Lisbeth Salander: The fuck-you-you-fucking-fuck shirt felt to the speaker like a surprise Marvel cameo.
“The moment that shirt comes on screen, it felt to me like a surprise Marvel cameo where I'm like, holy shit, they did it.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:23:49 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Christopher Plummer: David's hot take: the best 80s of any actor.
“Best 80s of any actor.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:27:45 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about David Fincher: Fincher consulted everyone he knew who had survived abuse to get the assault scenes right.
“canvassed, everyone in his life who he knew who had experienced some sort of traumatic abuse”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:40:02 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Yorick van Wageningen: Test audiences found it disproportionate that she was naked in the assault and he was not, so the torture scene was reshot.
“the test audience has reacted negatively where they were like, well, it feels weird and disproportionate that she's naked during her assault and that he's not.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:40:47 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Daniel Craig: Griffin's Letterboxd review of the film mocked Craig's glasses.
“Daniel Craig wearing glasses a way that no one has ever worn glasses in their life.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:43:50 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Stellan Skarsgard: Fincher on the commentary: the dinner scene works because Martin weaponizes politeness against Blomkvist.
“But the difference is that Scarsgard is basically weaponizing politeness against him.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:05:45 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Daniel Craig: Craig suggested Orinoco Flow for the killer's real-to-real, then ran to fetch his iPod.
“It was Daniel Craig who famously suggested Orango Flow.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:21:28 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Trent Reznor: Reznor on moving from the Social Network to this score: more like serial killers than social media.
“it was a little more like, ah, serial killers and anal rape.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:32:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about The Muppets: The Muppets as the original legacy sequel, the template for Force Awakens.
“it feels like Force Awakens is using that as the template.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 2:38:36 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Who's talking

Griffin Newman (host): Loves Fincher, comfort rewatches, commentary tracks and the research dossier; admires Rooney Mara and the film's gentleness at the margins. Can't stand the Swedish films' flatness or the Spider's Web reboot. A sucker for a good casting story and a recurring bit.
David Sims (host): Treats Dragon Tattoo as a comfort movie he likes more every rewatch; loves Christopher Plummer's 80s, cold murder, Fincher's craft. Dislikes hot murder and feel-bad-is-good-for-you talk. A sucker for Plummer, Muppets-era nostalgia and a rewatch-conversion story.
Ben Hosley (host): Producer in the room; saw the Swedish films first with his parents and was loyal to them; keeps pitching witch hackers. Skeptical of an American remake.
Fran Hoepfner (guest): Read the Millennium books for the episode and is wading through the denser sequels; admires Rooney Mara and finds the Spider's Web reboot ill advised. A sucker for Daniel Craig in glasses and a sweater.

The show's recurring bits

Names the transcriber got wrong

Scarsgard / Scarscard / Scarsguard = Stellan Skarsgard
Rooney Mara also rendered Renumara / Rudy Mara / Rony Mara; Noomi Rapace rendered Numi Repace / New Year Pace / Numir pace
Steve / Stig Larson = Stieg Larsson; Blancfist / Bunkist / Bancas / Longfist = Blomkvist; Elizabeth Solander / Salander = Lisbeth Salander; Wanger = Vanger; Winnerstrom = Wennerstrom
Zalen / Zellin / Salian = Steven Zaillian; Ruden = Scott Rudin; Fran Hoffner = Fran Hoepfner
Jeff Cronin = Jeff Cronenweth (cinematographer); Cornelmeth probably = Cronenweth or Fincher (speaker unclear); Frederick Beckar = Fredrik Backar (Swedish DP)
Sven Nikfist = Sven Nykvist; Trent Rezner / Resner = Trent Reznor; Tim Miller as named
Yorik Van... Wang Jin = Yorick van Wageningen; Goron Vishniche / Visnic = Goran Visnjic; Donald Sumter = Donald Sumpter; Denchik = Dencik
Vicky Creeps = Vicky Krieps; Clyce Bang / Kleisbang = Claes Bang; Severe good Nassen = Sverrir Gudnason; Sylvia Hook's = Sylvia Hoeks
Neil's Art and Oplev = Niels Arden Oplev; Concinte Manelli = Vincente Minnelli; Alan Shabat = Alain Chabat
Fran magazine / Friend magazine / Frame magazine = the guest's own magazine (name uncertain in the audio)
Cold open: Blank Check intro and the 6th Sense bit run the first 12 minutes; 6 cents = The Sixth Sense; Jolie Richardson = Joely Richardson

Blank Check — Patreon: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free)

As extracted (engineer-sonnet-2026-10-13)

Films that came up

passing (86)

subject (1)

compared (11)

dismissed (2)

anecdote (8)

recommended (2)

Claims (57)

Fun items (24)

Who's talking

The show's recurring bits

Names the transcriber got wrong