Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’s TV Reboot Gets Exciting Update From Showrunner: “Welcome To Female Rage”

After having taken the reins for the show in October, Veena Sud offers an exciting update on the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo TV reboot. The Prime Video project marks the third adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s 2005 novel of the same name revolving around a hacker working with a disgraced journalist to investigate a 40-year-old missing persons case. The book, and its first two sequels, were first adapted with Noomi Rapace starring as the titular protagonist in 2009, followed by the acclaimed English-language remake helmed by David Fincher and led by Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig.

During a recent interview with Screen Rant for the re-cut release of her Quibi thriller The Stranger on Hulu, Sud opened up about her work on the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo TV reboot. Though having to keep mum on specifics of the project overall, the showrunner did tease that it will be a “strong” and “powerful” take on the source material and will tap into its theme of “female rage“. Check out what Sud shared below:

I have a classic television show coming out for Amazon, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, another angry woman out to get the bad guys and the monsters. So, I’m really excited about that, bringing it to television after 15–20 years. It’s been kind of in the stratosphere, and there’s so much to talk about today that was relevant back then — when Stieg Larsson first published the books, the trilogy — about female rage, about abuse, about the emergence of racism, white nationalism. All of the things, 20 years later, here we are, it’s super relevant today. So far, just pursuing kind of outlier women has always been the thing I love, so I’m really excited about that.

Well, it’s a little bit under wraps right now, so I can’t reveal too much other than to say, Welcome to female rage. It’s strong, it’s powerful, and it’s going to take some s–t down in the next few years. So, I’m excited that we get to see, again, a new version of a woman who just refuses to follow the rules.

Sud’s Comments Are Very Promising For The Dragon Tattoo Reboot

Across three different actors and three different takes on the property, the key connective thread in capturing audiences’ interest in Larsson’s works has been protagonist Lisbeth Salander. The titular computer hacker is known for her striking appearance of atypical hairstyles, numerous piercings, multiple tattoos and black leather clothing styles. While a very capable person in both self-defense and hacking, much of her standoffish appearance stems from her desire to protect herself from being too vulnerable and being further hurt by the world.

Sud’s indications of exploring the “female rage” lying within Lisbeth is a promising sign of faithfully adapting the character and her story for the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo TV show. The previous movies have occasionally explored some of these aspects, namely in Lisbeth getting revenge on abusive men in the world due to her own traumatic past involving said figures, though some like the poorly received The Girl in the Spider’s Web have treated them as convoluted plot devices in favor of meaningful character development. Check out the various Rotten Tomatoes scores for prior adaptations below:

By more effectively tapping into still-timely themes of toxic masculinity, sexual abuse and reclamation of female independence, Sud’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo can not only live up to the critical heights of the 2009 and 2011 movies, but could even surpass them. The mystery-thriller genre is at the height of its popularity on television, and with the combined might of franchise recognition for Larsson’s books and prior adaptations, and a fresh, powerful take on the material, now is the perfect time for it to be revived.