‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’ leaves question on Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara

the girl in the spiders web leaves question on daniel craig mara rooney 2016 images

'The Girl in the Spider's Web' leaves question on Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara 2016 images

‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’ Will Be A Sequel to ‘Dragon Tattoo’ but no word on Daniel Craig or Rooney Mara returning

Back in 2011, David Fincher helmed the American adaptation of the acclaimed Swedish crime novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The film starred Daniel Craig as disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist, and Rooney Mara as punk hacker Lisbeth Salander. Despite being released just two years after the original Swedish film, Fincher’s remake still received strong marks with critics and fans alike. However, the financial returns for Sony were not nearly as fruitful. The original plan was to have Fincher direct all three adaptations — with The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest succeeding the first film. And while unfortunate as it is that those two sequels were never (yet) produced, the studio is still moving forward with another, albeit somewhat offbeat, installment in the series.

Original Dragon Tattoo author Stieg Larsson sadly passed away back in 2004, shortly after the three novels were published. For so long, all hope seemed lost because there were rumors that Larsson had planned on doing ten books centering around the worldwide phenomenon that is Lisbeth Salander. But as luck should have it, Swedish author David Lagercrantz wrote a fourth installment called The Girl in the Spiders Web, published in 2015. While it may not have been the same as having the original genius typing on the keys, the new novel still gave us more of the wonderful Salander/Blomkvist partnership. What’s not to love?

After a protracted period of rumors and hopeful hearsay, Sony has finally greenlit an adaptation of The Girl in the Spiders Web. And what’s really exciting is that development on the project has already begun to build pace. According to ComingSoon.net, director Fede Alvarez (Dont Breathe) is officially helming the film. Not only that, screenwriter Steven Knight (Locke) spoke to Collider about how Spiders Web will actually be a sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

girl in the spiders web main characters key

“A commission and an original are two different things, and both have their virtues and vices. A commission is a bit more collaborative, in that you outline the story that you think should be told, and then you write it. And then, there are notes and you change it, in the conventional studio system. But, it was great fun to do because of the central character. With The Girl in the Spiders Web, the girl is really the central character. She’s the whole thing. It’s not really Blomkvist.

“It can’t be anything other than a sequel, but a couple of books have been skipped, so it is different, in that sense. It’s really taking a very strong central character and thinking, how do you execute this? It’s quite different.”

[springboard type=”video” id=”1669317″ player=”mtvt006″ width=”480″ height=”400″ ]

Even if the choice to go with Spiders Web rather than the second novel series pays off in the end, it does still seem a little strange. The original series is so vastly popular that it seems only logical to go with a time-tested book like The Girl Who Played with Fire rather than one that many consider to be tacked on. That’s not to say that Lagercrantz’s novel isn’t commendable, it’s just that Sony could be making a mistake here. But even so, it’s a huge relief to know that the sequel is happening at all.

What remains to be seen is how Alvarez’s vision differs from Fincher’s. Both have experience in horror, but the latter is quite more suited for the material. The majority of Fincher’s career has been spent in the mystery and thriller genres, so it’s bittersweet that he will not be returning to a troubled project that has finally found its legs. But, the next question that we must ask ourselves is: Will the two leads return? If not, well, Sony tried. The sequel would not be the same without Mara and Craig, and would only further sequester Spiders Web from the beloved original series. Please bring them back, Sony. Please.

Stay tuned because we will keep you updated as the project develops.