UPDATE: Variety seems to have removed the mention of Rooney Mara from their report. As such, it’s unclear now if she’ll be returning to reprise her role.
Sony is apparently eyeing Evil Dead director Fede Alvarez to helm their sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is going to be called The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Variety is the one with the news, and they’re reporting that Rooney Mara is expected to return as hacker Lizbeth Salander, with the film set to be based on the new novel of the same name by David Lagercrantz (which is the fourth entry into the series).
For those unfamiliar with the source material, Spider’s Web follows Salander during another investigation with Mikael Blomkvist (played by Daniel Craig in the first film), as the duo uncover a “web of government spies and cyber criminals with deadly stakes.” Sounds intriguing, and like the start of an exciting thriller.
With plans now in place to adapt the novel as the first sequel to Fincher’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, it appears as if the studio will be skipping over the final two books in the original trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl in the Hornet’s Nest. Though that may be upsetting for most fans, the very fact that Sony is continuing this series at all is most definitely good news.
If you’ve been following the development of the sequel, you’ll know that though David Fincher’s original remake in 2011 was supposed to start a trilogy, it under-performed at the box office and the follow-up (at that time thought to be Played with Fire) spiralled down into development hell. Further problems behind the scenes with the various filmmakers and producers complicated the process even more and all hoped seemed to be lost for a sequel.
Now, despite both Fincher and Mara saying there would never be another film, it looks like things are back on track, with everyone on board for round two except for Fincher. Set to script is Steven Knight and though Mikael Blomkvist is featured in the novel, it’s unknown if Craig will be back to play him. Though you can bet that Sony will certainly try their best to bring him in.
No word yet on additional casting or even a production start date, but now that the pieces are starting to fall into place, it’s likely that Sony will make some further announcements soon. Until they do though, tell us, are you happy to see that the franchise is being resurrected in the form of The Girl with the Spider’s Web, or would you have preferred to see them make The Girl Who Played with Fire instead? Sound off below with your thoughts!