Although it had a so-so box office performance, the US remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was by far the superior adaptation of Stieg Larsson's pulpy thriller.
However, plans to adapt the next novel in the series - The Girl Who Played With Fire - were scuppered when Dragon Tattoo had a weak performance and the whole thing was effectively kicked to touch. However, in 2015, Sony acquired the rights to The Girl In The Spider's Web, the continuation of the Millennium series from David Lagercrantz, and set Peaky Blinders showrunner Steven Knight the task of adapting it for a screenplay.
Variety now reports that Fede Alvarez, who directed this year's horror smash Don't Breathe and the not-bad-at-all remake of Evil Dead, has been tapped to take on the screenplay. This would be Alvarez's first foray into a major production.
The real question, however, is whether or not Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig will reprise their roles as Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist respectively. The reason for the hold-up with The Girl Who Played With Fire was, apparently, Craig angling for money. Skyfall had just brought in over $1 billion for Sony and Craig wanted a pay rise for the sequel.
The word is that Sony has an option to make two sequels with both Craig and Mara, but it's possible that that option might only apply to The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, and not David Lagercrantz's sequels. It's hard to say whether or not Mara and Craig are what draws audiences in; certainly their on-screen chemistry was excellent and they're both talented actors, but there is a sense that these roles are malleable and could be taken on by other actors.
Either way, we'll be keeping an eye on this one. No release date has been set for The Girl In The Spider's Web.
Via Variety
