Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Sequel Moving Ahead

Despite being based on a massively popular book, the 2011 adaptation of Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was released to disappointing box office results. As a result, plans for a second film in the series stalled, with director David Fincher and stars Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig moving on to other projects. However, it now seems as though producers Sony are once again planning a follow-up.

According to The Wrap, the studio are looking to adapt The Girl in the Spider’s Web, the fourth book in the Millennium series, rather than the expected The Girl Who Played With Fire. In addition, neither Fincher, Mara, nor Craig are expected to return. Ex Machina star Alicia Vikander is currently the frontrunner to take over from Mara as the troubled hacker Lisbeth Salander. Larsson died of a heart attack in 2004--The Girl in the Spider’s Web was written by David Lagercrantz and published in August this year.

Sony had previously hired Schindler's List writer Steve Zaillian to adapt the The Girl Who Played With Fire, which is the direct sequel to Dragon Tattoo, paying him what was reportedly a seven-figure sum for the script. However, in February, Mara stated that she thought it was unlikely that the film would happen anytime soon. "I'm sad never to do it again," she told Coming Soon. "But it just doesn't seem like it's in the cards. I think because [Sony] already has spent millions of dollars on the rights and the script... it will result in something."

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo made around $233 million from a $90 million budget, but this was ultimately what co-financiers MGM described was a "modest loss." Fincher's film followed the acclaimed Swedish adaptations of Larsson's three Millennium books, which starred Noomi Rapace as Salander.