Dragon Tattoo girl to return – with a new cast

Columbia Pictures has announced that it’s bringing back the cult punk computer hacker Lisbeth Salander for a big screen adaptation of the fourth instalment of the Millennium Series of books, begun by Stieg Larsson.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web was written by Larsson’s fellow Swedish writer David Lagercrantz, who took over the franchise after his death at the age of 50.

Rooney Mara starred as Lisbeth Salander in the English-language remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Larsson’s three books were made in Swedish, with Noomi Rapace in the central role; the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was also made into an English language film, with Rooney Mara starring as the protagonist.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web will be the first Lisbeth Salander film to get its first big-screen outing in English, and Sony says it’s launched a global search for a new actress to fill the role.

The film, due to begin shooting this September and be released next October, will be directed by Fede Alvarez, whose career was launched with a short alien invasion film he posted on Youtube, Panic Attack!, before he was discovered by Hollywood, where he’s helmed the Evil Dead update and last year’s low budget chiller Don’t Breathe. “Lisbeth Salander is the kind of character any director dreams of bringing to life,” Alvarez enthused.

 

 

The announcement was made at the London Book Fair, at the launch of Lagercrantz’s latest novel – the fifth in the Millennium Series.