There will be a sequel to "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" - and it wont' be "The Girl Who Played With Fire."
Instead, filmmakers will jump over book number 2 and r and turn "The Girl in the Spider's Web" into yet another movie adaptation of a Stieg Larsson novel.
The thing is, the fourth book isn't really written by Larsson, although the lead protagonists are his creations. Larsson had died in 2004 after finishing the manuscript for first three books and even before seeing them get published and soar through bestseller lists.
Instead, the fourth book had been penned by David Lagercrantz, who was hired to continue Larsson's series.
"'Spider's Web' follows superhacker Salander and investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist as they find themselves at the center of a tangled web of spies, cybercriminals and corrupt governments," Time said of the plot.
The said follow up, which had been greenlighted about 4 years after the original film's release, reportedly won't be having the original cast or director on board. Daniel Craig, who played journalist Mikael Blomkvist, allegedly asked for a higher salary - something that the producers balked at considering the studio was aiming for a lower budget for the sequel. The first movie was expensive at $90 million, although it went on to earn at least $233 million globally.
With the reported non-commitment of director David Fincher, it's likely that the cast will also do an encore. As such, the studio is looking at a largely new cast for the sequel.
This early, Alicia Vikander's name had been put forward as the one likely to replace Rooney Mara, who played hacker Lisbeth Salander. This has not yet been confirmed by the studio or the actress. According to /FILM, no casting announcements will be made until the script has been completed.
Steven Knight, the scribe behind "World War Z" sequel, has been confirmed as the scriptwriter for the next Salander movie, as noted by Variety.
The fourth book is deemed a controversial one as fans, even Larsson's own girlfriend, had decried the fact that the novel was not written by Larsson.
"But since publication, the book has been embraced by critics and the fan base," Time said.
"Lagercrantz's story is intricate and ambitious, and his new antagonists for Salander and Blomkvist are appreciably exaggerated, without crossing a line into ridiculousness," The Atlantic said, in praise of the new book. "The effect for the reader is very much one of reading a Stieg Larsson book, warts and all."
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