It's been a decent while since 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' premiered in theaters, launching Rooney Mara into stardom and giving Daniel Craig yet another beefy role to add to his resume. Despite the less-than-expected box office numbers, Sony was and still is planning the next sequel, 'The Girl Who Played With Fire.' So what's taking so long? Well, apparently they're weighing whether or not to cut Craig's character out of the script.

Sony has taken their sweet time in putting out the 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' sequel due to budget issues, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Their biggest obstacle so far, it turns out, isn't cementing David Fincher's directorial return as previously rumored, but rather Mr. Craig.

Due to the success of 'Skyfall,' the actor has asked for a pay raise, which Sony is disinclined to provide. According to THR, sources close to the film are saying that if pay can't successfully be negotiated, one solution would be writing Craig's Mikael Blomkvist out of the script.

The majority of 'The Girl Who Played With Fire' novel by Stieg Larson focuses primarily on Rooney Mara's Lisbeth Salander anyway, but can you imagine a sequel film without one of the leading roles from the first? Craig still wants to come back for the next installment, as do Fincher and Mara, and when it comes down to it, Sony doesn't want to spend the money on a script rewrite.

As of now, the film is still scheduled to premiere in 2014 at the earliest, and given everyone's desire to return, hopefully some common ground can be found in this dilemma. But what do you think? Would you see a 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' sequel without Daniel Craig?

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