Adapting a beloved novel for the big screen is always a tricky task. Back in 2011, though, David Fincher and the folks at Fox managed to do a more than credible job with the international bestseller "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." Sure, some people were miffed that they tweaked the ending, but for the most part, it was fairly respectful of the source material.

Well, get a load of this: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fox is considering writing Daniel Craig out of the sequel, "The Girl Who Played With Fire," entirely despite the fact that he plays one of the main characters in the franchise.

So much for being faithful to the book!

And just why would Fox be considering such a drastic move? Well, money, of course. Duh. You didn't think it was for creative reasons or because they wanted to make a better film, did you?

Craig, you see, is under the impression that since his latest film "Skyfall" made over a billion dollars, that means he should be paid more to appear in his next movie. But since Fox is trying to cut costs for "The Girl Who Played With Fire," they are apparently considering the drastic move of rewriting Steven Zaillian's script to erase the character of Mikael Blomqvist entirely.

Of course, it's true that most of the film revolves around Rooney Mara's titular heroine Lisbeth Salander rather than Blomqvist, meaning it wouldn't be difficult to create a replacement character to fill Blomqvist's role in the plot. But considering Craig is, in fact, one of the biggest stars in the world right now, and that Blomqvist is a key figure in the franchise's mythology, it would seem to be courting disaster to alienate fans by making such a major change. It would be like removing Jacob from "Twilight" and replacing him with the Shaggy D.A. because Taylor Lautner wanted a raise.

Whether or not Fox ends up actually going this route is still undecided. But one thing is certain: When you mess with a beloved novel, you really are playing with fire.