Daniel Craig Officially Confirmed For The Lead In David Fincher's 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'

Talks have turned into a contract as Deadline reports that Daniel Craig has closed the deal to star in David Fincher’s already highly anticipated “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” with options for a second and third installment. Apparently Craig’s upcoming schedule is incredibly tight and he’s expected to move right from Jon Favreau’s currently filming “Cowboys Vs. Aliens” to Fincher’s ‘Tattoo’ which is slated to shoot this fall in Sweden. He also needed clearance from Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson who, though they have officially put “Bond 23” on hiatus, wanted to make sure Craig could make their potential schedule should a window of opportunity open at MGM to make the film.

Craig will take the lead role of Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist who teams with young hacker Lisbeth Salander in investigating and exposing five generations of a powerful and wealthy Swedish family. Salander is one of the hottest roles for young actresses in Hollywood right now. Apparently, Sony and Fincher have narrowed their selection down to five potential candidates: “Sucker Punch” star Emily Browning, two relatively unknown Australian actresses in the shape of Sara Snook and Sophie Lowe, “The Social Network” star Rooney Mara (as reported first right here), and French actress Lea Seydoux. Since day one, Fincher has been eyeing a relative unknown for the role and seems to be sticking to his guns.

Written by Steve Zaillian (“Schindler’s List,” “American Gangster”), the film is slated for an Oscar season release on December 21, 2011. Fincher’s next film, the equally buzzed about “The Social Network” hits on October 1st.