Fede Alvarez confirmed to direct The Girl in the Spider’s Web

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

As a very big fan of David Fincher's THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, I was quite disappointed when it seemed unlikely that Sony Pictures and Fincher would be moving forward with adaptations of "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest". Rooney Mara, who starred in the American remake as Lisbeth Salander, had said that she didn't believe any of the sequels would see the light of day, but Sony wasn't about to let their expensive investment go to waste. Rather than continuing with "The Girl Who Played With Fire" or "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest", Sony will instead adapt David Lagercrantz's "The Girl in the Spider's Web", the fourth novel in Stieg Larsson's Millennium series.

Fede Alvarez (DON'T BREATHE) was being eyed to take on directing duties for THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB earlier this month and now Coming Soon has confirmed that SPIDER'S WEB will indeed be Alvarez's next project. The project hasn't been officially confirmed by the studio just yet, but Steven Knight (ALLIED) was commissioned by Sony Pictures to pen the script and both Alvarez and his longtime producer and co-writer Rodo Sayagues will have script input as well as they look to turn the DRAGON TATTOO sequel into "something uniquely theirs." Speaking of sequels, there's been conflicting reports on whether THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB will function as a sequel or a remake, but Steven Knight set the record straight while speaking with Collider when he said that it's "definitely being conceived as a sequel."

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.

Knight wouldn't give any clues as to casting, but if Sony really is treating this as a sequel rather than a reboot or remake, it'd be very strange if Rooney Mara didn't return to play Lisbeth Salander. Luckily for Sony, Mara has said that she'd definitely be down to step into Salander's shoes once again. As for Daniel Craig returning as Mikael Blomkvist, I suppose we'll have to keep our fingers crossed.

A synopsis of "The Girl in the Spider's Web" via Amazon:

A genius hacker who has always been an outsider. A journalist with a penchant for danger. She is Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo. He is Mikael Blomkvist, crusading editor of Millennium. One night, Blomkvist receives a call from a source who claims to have been given information vital to the United States by a young female hacker. Blomkvist, always on the lookout for a story, reaches out to Salander for help. She, as usual, has plans of her own. Together they are drawn into a ruthless underworld of spies, cybercriminals, and government operatives—some willing to kill to protect their secrets.

The feel bad movie of Christmas, love it. Still one of my favourite teaser trailers.