There’s been intense interest in Sony Pictures’The Girl with the Dragon Tattoofranchise, or lack thereof. One of the reasons the studio was able to wooDavid Fincherto direct the bestseller adaptation was because it was sold as a big-budget franchise made exclusively for adults—a $100+ million budget for a hard R-rated film tackling adult subject matter. But while the film was gorgeously crafting and quite compelling, it failed to catch on with audiences at large, grossing $232.6 million worldwide. Now that’s not a bad figure for a $50 million-$60 million adult drama, but for a film intended to kick off a big-budget franchise, that number made the prospect of a sequel rather murky. Add in the fact that Fincher and Sony butted headsstronglyduring the film’s production, marketing, and post-production period, and movement onThe Girl Who Played with Fire—the next book inSteig Larsson’s series—has been slow-going.
All hope for aDragon Tattoosequel pretty much fell away after years of nothing happening beyondSteven Zaillianpenning a draft of a script, but last year Sony started exploringthe possibility of moving forward with the franchisein a curious manner. The studio opted to developThe Girl in the Spider’s Webas a newDragon Tattoofilm, which was interesting given thatSpider’s Webis the fourth book in the series and would not pick up directly after the events ofDragon Tattoo. Moreover, rumors swirled that this was being crafted as something of a reboot, withRooney Marapotentially being replacedin the title role.
Collider’s own Christina Radish recently spoke with screenwriterSteven Knightin anticipation of the upcoming World War II thrillerAllied, and Knight talked briefly about his involvement in scriptingThe Girl in the Spider’s Web. First and foremost, Knight explained that he was commissioned to pen the script, meaning it’s been a bit of a collaboration with the studio:
“A commission and an original are two different things, and both have their virtues and vices. A commission is a bit more collaborative, in that you outline the story that you think should be told, and then you write it. And then, there are notes and you change it, in the conventional studio system. But, it was great fun to do because of the central character. WithThe Girl in the Spider’s Web, the girl is really the central character. She’s the whole thing. It’s not really Blomkvist.”
Indeed,Spider’s Webthe book was penned byDavid Lagercrantzfollowing Larsson’s death, and very much feels like a bit of a standalone story with Lisbeth Salander attempting to track down someone from her past, which leads to the discovery of the Spider Society. Given thatSpider’s Webdoesn’t much involve the events ofDragon Tattoo, Knight was asked if the film is more of a reboot or a sequel. He explained that while this film is certainly different, 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 declined to discuss the prospect of casting, but if thisisa sequel, it wouldn’t make much sense to recast Mara’s role. And while the project doesn’t yet have a greenlight, Sony isreportedly eyeingDon’t BreatheandEvil DeadfilmmakerFede Alvarezto direct, so it’s possible this is being reconceived as a mid-budget adult thriller. If that’s the case, this is likely a very different film scope-wise thanDragon Tattooand Fincher’s original idea of crafting an “event movie” for adults.
Look for more from Christina’s interview with Knight closer to the release ofAllied.
[Note: An earlier version of this article misquoted Knight as saying the film can’t be a sequel. The post has since been corrected and updated throughout.]
