'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' Sequel: Claire Foy Frontrunner for Lisbeth Salander
After meeting with dozens of actresses for the role, Sony looks to have its next Lisbeth Salander.
Sources tell Variety that The Crown star Claire Foy is the top choice to play the rogue hacker in The Girl in the Spider’s Web, the latest installment in the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series.
There is one caveat, however, that could stand in the way of a deal closing, according to insiders. Foy is also meeting with Damien Chazelle for the female lead in his next film at Universal, First Man, which stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong. Sources at Universal say that no offer has been delivered for that role, and that other actresses are still in the mix, but Foy is high on the list of talent and is interested in that part as well.
If Foy stars in The Girl in the Spider’s Web, she would take on the role that was played by Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara in prior installments, with Mara earning an Oscar nomination for her performance in the 2011 remake.
Fede Alvarez, the director of Don’t Breathe, will helm the film, which Sony recently dated for Oct. 19, 2018.
Steven Knight and Alvarez and Jay Basu penned the script. Scott Rudin, Søren Stærmose, Ole Søndberg, Amy Pascal, Elizabeth Cantillon, Eli Bush, and Berna Levin will produce; the executive producers are Anni Faurbye Fernandez, Line Winther Skyum Funch, Johannes Jensen, and David Fincher. David Beaubaire is overseeing for the studio.
Penned by David Lagercrantz, The Girl in the Spider’s Web will be the first in the best-selling series to be produced into an English-language film in its initial adaptation. The previous books in the series have been adapted into Swedish-language films, and 2011’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a remake of the Swedish film. It became a global hit for Columbia Pictures, taking in over $230 million worldwide.
The studio will now look to cast Mikael Blomkvist, who was played by Daniel Craig in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and sources say they expect the studio to target a talent with Craig’s starpower.
Foy is currently filming the second season of Netflix’s The Crown. She is repped by UTA and Independent Talent Group.
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