"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" sequel is reportedly in production, four years after the first film was released.
Sony's original plan was to kick off an entirely new franchise with novel author Stieg Larsson's "Millenium" series, and not simply end with "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." However, the film they released in 2011 didn't do as well as they hoped, and now the latest news on "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" cast is that there will be no more Daniel Craig, David Fincher or even Rooney Mara as the superhacker Lisbeth Salander, according to Slash Film.
While the character Lisbeth Salander return on the big screen, she won't be returning in the second book, "The Girl Who Played With Fire." Instead, the "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" sequel will reportedly focus on Book No. 4 in the "Millenium" series, "The Girl in the Spider's Web," the first book which hadn't been written by Larsson.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Sony is currently communicating with Steven Knight, who wrote "Burnt," to adapt the novel, which reportedly rose to fame and became an international best seller as soon as it was published in September.
Sources have confirmed that Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig and even "Dragon Tattoo," Director David Fincher will not be returning to the franchise, according to TIME.
However, producer Scott Rudin will remain, together with Amy Pascal and Elizabeth Cantillon of "Concussion."
David Lagercrantz was hired to write "Spider's Web" after Larsson died in 2004. The book centers on Lisbeth Salander and investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist. As in "Dragon Tattoo," "Spider's Web" will be about the duo's interestingly gruelling adventure about spies, cybercriminals and corrupt governments.
"Dragon Tattoo" reportedly earned $233 million in 2011, but the $90 million had been too expensive for a hard-R film. While the studio wanted Craig back for the sequel, he was reported to have wanted a pay raise, making it impossible to bring him back since Sony wants a lower budget for "Spider's Web."
As for "Girl Who Played With Fire," Sony reportedly paid Steven Zaillian mid-seven figures for his script already, so we can expect that it will still be in the works in the coming years.
For now, audiences will just have to wait for "Girl Who Played With Fire" and be excited about "Spider's Web," which is the only concrete film set in production. And in the meantime, casting continues as to who of Hollywood's young actresses will play the astounding Lisbeth Salander.
