Back in 2011, director David Fincher made the American adaptation of the Swedish crime novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, starring Rooney Mara as computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, and Daniel Craig as journalist Mikael Blomkvist. The movie was praised by critics and audiences alike and gave us hope for an American version of the other two books of the series: The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest.

An American adaptation of the second book has long been rumoured, but it turns out that Sony has different plans for the future movies of the Millennium series. Instead of going for the second book, they will jump to the fourth book, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, written by David Lagercrantz and released last year. Sadly, David Fincher is no longer attached as director, but the studio might have found his replacement in Fede Álvarez.

According to Variety, Sony is setting eyes on the Don’t Breathe director to helm the sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, with a script penned by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders). There’s no word on whether Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig will reprise their roles as Salander and Blomkvist, but fans shouldn’t lose hope just yet.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web reunites Salander and Blomkvist after the latter receives a phone call from a source claiming to have information vital to the United States. Blomkvist turns to Salander for help, but little do they know, they are about to enter a web of spies, cybercriminals, and governments around the world. Lagercrantz was given free reign over Stieg Larsson's (author of the first three books and creator of the Millennium series characters) estate, staying true to the style of complex stories and different plotlines without trying to imitate Larsson's writing style. 

Fede Álvarez has only two features in his career: the remake of Sam Raimi’s classic Evil Dead (2013) and the critically acclaimed horror film Don’t Breathe, written by him and Rodo Sayagues. Álvarez is an interesting choice for this project, but the main question about this long-awaited sequel to Salander and Blomkvist’s cases is still whether Mara and Craig will come back for another journey into the depths of Sweden’s darkest side – even though Mara has previously stated she's still up for it, the studio might have different plans. 

Screen Rant will keep you updated on The Girl in the Spider's Web as the project develops.

Source: Variety