Hollywood may be in the business of adapting popular book series (hence why Fifty Shades of Grey is still a thing) but not every beloved work gets to finish out its run. Take A Series of Unfortunate Events: After a 2004 film with no sequel, Lemony Snicket's book series appeared dead in the water. It was only thanks to Netflix that the macabre book series was revived 13 years later as a television series with an entirely new cast. Now another book series — one few thought would ever get new life after a movie adaptation failed to take flight as a franchise — is getting the reboot treatment. The American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is officially getting a sequel, but it won't be quite a continuation.
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According to Vanity Fair, the late Stieg Larsson's book series will get new life on the big screen. Following a successful film adaptation of Larsson's first novel in his Millennium series in 2011, it seemed inevitable that The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo would continue as a franchise with stars Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig at the center of the story. Yet, despite a big-name director (David Fincher helmed the first film) and a few Oscar nods (including one for Mara and Fincher) the movie's sequel got stuck in development hell. Now, the sequel — titled The Girl In The Spider's Web — is moving full-speed ahead. According to Vanity Fair, fans can expect the sequel to hit theaters on October 5, 2018.
Unfortunately, fans who hoped to see the dynamic Mara as Lisbeth Salander yet again will be disappointed. The actress will not return for the new film, which, this time around, will be helmed by Fede Alvarez, who directed the very creepy (and delightfully subversive) 2016 horror flick Don't Breathe. It's hard to imagine anyone else tackling the role of Lisbeth: the role of the tough, yet emotionally scarred computer hacker was a role that Mara embodied entirely, and could arguably be the strongest performance of her career. It will certainly be a tricky feat for any actress to step into Lisbeth's combat boots — as much as I want to see more complex roles for women on the big screen.
It's unclear right now whether The Girl In The Spider's Web will be based on one of Larsson's novels, or on the fourth book in Lisbeth's story, which was penned by David Lagercrantz after Larsson's death and shares a name with the new film. Whatever the case, I'm ready for more Lisbeth Salander: no matter who plays her.