How quickly things change. It was in September when Rooney Mara candidly revealed she was “not holding out hope any more” to return as Lisbeth Salander in a followup to “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.” But only a couple of weeks back, Sony finally kicked “The Girl In The Spider’s Web” into gear, with rumors already surfacing that Mara was slated to return (those details have since been scrubbed from the trades, so it’s still unofficial). Indeed most of the old gang is back including producers Scott Rudin, Amy Pascal and screenwriter Steven Knight, while David Fincher — who battled with the studio over ‘Dragon Tattoo’ — being left behind, with Fede Alvarez attached to direct. And indeed, this time around, it seems Sony will be keeping a tighter leash on things.
READ MORE: “As Far As I Know I’m Doing It”: Rooney Mara Talks ‘The Girl In The Spider’s Web’
Speaking with Collider, Knight clarifies that he’s been hired to write the script, which is quite different than drawing something up on his own.
“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,” he said.
As for the story, it will naturally see a leap considering it skips two books in the series, and in fact, ‘Web’ was penned by David Lagercrantz following the death of Stieg Larsson, with the approval of the late author’s estate. And it will see Daniel Craig‘s Blomkvist take a back seat, which certainly raises a question about whether or not the actor will be interested in coming back.
“…the girl is really the central character. She’s the whole thing. It’s not really Blomkvist,” he said, though Knight emphasizes ‘Web’ doesn’t ignore the previous film. “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.”
Certainly, Sony has a challenge ahead, making a sequel more than five years after the fact, and far after the initial buzz has died down around the book series. And especially coming off the flop of “Inferno,” that might be a warning that perhaps the interest in the further adventures of Lisbeth Salander might be muted. The counterpoint is that Alvarez is a helluva exciting genre filmmaker, and if Mara does indeed return, they have every possibility of reigniting excitement. Thoughts? Let us know below.