In 2011, David Fincher brought the American adaptation of the Swedish crime novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to the big screen. The critically-acclaimed remake starred Rooney Mara as hacker Lisbeth Salander and Daniel Craig as journalist Mikael Blomkvist. Together, the two characters uncovered some of Sweden’s most dangerous and darkest secrets, involving a legacy of sex and murder.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is the first novel from Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, and an American adaptation of the second novel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, has been long rumoured. Earlier this month it was reported that Sony will move forward with a sequel to Dragon Tattoo but it will do without Mara or Craig on board. But according to Mara herself, she is still signed to star in the sequel.
In an interview with E! Online, while promoting her new romantic drama, Carol, Mara revealed she is still signed for the sequel, saying potentially being replaced won’t stop her from returning to the role.
“As far as I know I’m doing it until someone tells me otherwise. I’m doing it unless someone tells me that I’m not, and then I still might do it”
Sony’s plans for the sequel don’t involve Fincher either, nor will the movie follow the chronological order of the books, something the Swedish version remained faithful to. Instead, they will go for an adaptation of the fourth book, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, written by David Lagercrantz and released in August of this year. Academy Award-nominated writer/director Steven Knight (Locke) is set to pen the adaptation of Spider’s Web.
The Girl in the Spider’s Web reunites Blomkvist and Salander after Blomkvist receives a phone call from a source who claims to have information vital to the United States. In need for a scoop for Millennium, Blomkvist turns to Salander for help. Little do they know, the secret they are going after is at the center of a web of spies, cybercriminals, and governments around the world.
The Millennium trilogy got the big-screen adaptation treatment first in its country of origin, with the first movie directed by Niels Arden Oplev and the other two by Daniel Alfredson. Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace starred in these three movies as Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, respectively. If Sony moves on with a new cast for Spider’s Web, they should consider having Rapace as the American Lisbeth Salander, as she already knows the character quite well.
While there hasn’t been an official statement from Sony regarding the casting choices for the sequel, The Wrap shared that the top choice for the role of Lisbeth Salander is Ex-Machina‘s star Alicia Vikander. There have been no reports on Vikander being offered the role.
For now, fans of Fincher’s adaptation can rest peacefully knowing that, as far as she is concerned, Rooney Mara is still on to reprise her role as Sweden’s sharpest hacker.
