Fresh off the success of Sony’s “Don’t Breathe,” Sony Pictures is eyeing director Fede Alvarez for one of the studio’s major franchises.
Sources tell Variety Alvarez is the choice to direct “The Girl in the Spider’s Web,” the sequel to “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”
Rooney Mara is attached to return.
Steven Knight penned the script with Scott Rudin, Amy Pascal, Elizabeth Cantillon, Eli Bush and Yellow Bird’s Ole Søndberg, Berna Levin and Søren Stærmose on board to produce. David Beaubaire is overseeing for the studio.
The pic is based on the new novel by David Lagercrantz, who took over for the series after the original novel’s author Stieg Larsson died in 2004. In the novel, Salander teamed up with journalist Mikael Blomkvist to enter a world of a ruthless underworld of spies, cybercriminals, and government operatives — some willing to kill to protect their secrets.
The project has been high-priority for Sony since it acquired the rights to the book in 2015, and it immediately put Knight on the job to adapt the novel. The film is now fast-tracked to be made next year.
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The choice came as Alvarez and Sony Pictures discussed the director’s potential next project for the studio, following his triumph on Sony’s “Don’t Breathe.”
Alvarez is repped by WME and Anonymous Content.
