While THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGOON TATTOO was not the massive blockbuster Sony envisioned, that does not mean they are not looking to make a sequel. Rooney Mara would likely be back and David Fincher is still a possibility, but it looks like they may be looking for a way to excise Daniel Craig from the project.
The Hollywood Reporter says that after the massive success of SKYFALL, Craig is commanding a much larger salary which would make it difficult to move forward with production on THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. While the novel does not feature nearly as much screen time for Mikael Blomkvist, he is still a vital character to the story. But, it would not be impossible to rework the story around his absence.
THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE picks up right after the events of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and follows Lisbeth Salander as she returns to Sweden after spending a year abroad. She falls under suspicion of having committed the murder of a journalist and his girlfriend as well as her guardian, Nils Bjurman. Mikael Blomkvist has to do what he can to find her before the authorities do.
Fans of the novel will surely be upset at the change to the novel and there is no way to gauge if it would affect the box office to lose the biggest movie star in the cast. Whatever the case, with Sony having major financial woes these days, do not expect to see this movie any time soon. If we do, it may be vastly different than the novel.