Screenwriter Hired for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Sequel as Casting Search Continues
Posted 08.04.10 by Ryan
Casting is not yet complete on David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but Sony is already preparing a sequel. Based on a trilogy of novels by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson, screenwriter Steven Zaillian (American Gangster) was hired to adapt the first script, and Deadline reports that the movie studio is negotiating with Zaillian to write the sequel, The Girl Who Played with Fire. Sony clearly is hoping to launch into the sequel after production finishes on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, though with Daniel Craig cast as journalist Mikael Blomkvist, Sony will have to contend with a potential Cowboys and Aliens sequel and James Bond 23, should MGM ever get the project off the ground again.
The reason for Sony's urgency? Larsson's books have sold over 27 million copies in 40 countries, and around 8 million copies in America. The books were already adapted into successful movies in Sweden, the first of which opened in the U.S. last year.
Fincher, meanwhile, is continuing to search for a female co-star for Craig, having already trimmed the contenders into a short list. Production Weekly reports that Fincher's list is now down to two.
Rooney Mara & Emily Browning seem to be the choices to play the role of Lisbeth in The Girl With Dragon Tattoo.
While the action-packed trailer for Sucker Punch showed that Browning can handle herself, our money's on Mara, who appears in Fincher's upcoming The Social Network. Just a hunch.
Next Showing: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is scheduled to open December 21, 2011