Sony Pictures has scheduled David Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before locking in the lead actors. The American version of Stieg Larsson’s novel will hit theaters December 21, 2011.
Talks are still underway with Daniel Craig to play disgraced investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist but, according to Deadline, there may somehow be conflicts with the currently filming Cowboys & Aliens. The deal would include options for the two sequels in Larsson’s “Millennium Trilogy,” which might clash with any future James Bond movies — if MGM ever manages to get their finances in order.
But most of the attention is on who will play gothic bisexual computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. Thus far Carey Mulligan (An Education), Ellen Page (Inception), and Mia Wasikowska (The Kids Are All Right) have all been rumored, but seem unlikely as Sony searches for an unknown.
Instead, Anne Thompson at indieWire hears the five contenders are Australian actresses Emily Browning (Sucker Punch), Sophie Lowe, and Sarah Snook, American Rooney Mara (Fincher’s The Social Network), and an unidentified French actress.
If you’ve seen the Swedish version (it’s available on Netflix’s Watch Instantly) you know the material is wickedly dark and closest in tone to Fincher’s Seven. (Just in time for Christmas!) Sony chief Amy Pascal assured The Wrap that the trilogy will be “very R-rated.”
