Sony’s 2011 adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo earned Rooney Mara a Best Actress Oscar nomination and pulled in $233 million at the box office. Despite its success, the studio deemed the film too expense due to its $90 million budget. Now, the studio is planning to go ahead with another film in what’s known as the Millennium series, but on a smaller budget and with none of the major players from the original involved.
In fact, Sony won’t even be using one of author Stieg Larsson’s own novels. Instead, The Hollywood Reporter has word that the studio is looking to adapt the fourth book in the series, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, written by hired pen David Lagercrantz. (Larsson passed away in 2004.) The studio is in talks with Steven Knight (Burnt, Seventh Son, Locke) to pen the script.
Sony is looking at the film as a potential reboot of the series, meaning original stars Mara and Daniel Craig aren’t expected to return, nor director David Fincher. Craig is still optioned for two sequels, the next of which would be The Girl Who Played with Fire, a script Sony bought from Steven Zaillian for a seven-figure sum. However, he apparently wants a pay raise, and with the studio looking to bring the films in at lower budgets, it’s unlikely he’ll be back. Fire isn’t doused yet, however, as the studio may still go ahead with it if Spider’s Web is a hit.
Originally controversial for continuing the story without Larsson, The Girl in the Spider’s Web eventually became a best-seller. The story sees hacker Lisbeth Salander and investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist caught up in a web of spies, cybercriminals, and corrupt government officials as they hunt for information so vital to the United States that people are prepared to kill for it.
