Fede Alvarez

Claire Foy’s version of Lisbeth Salander is probably not what you were expecting.

One of the most compelling actors from Mindhunter, a series that basically doubles as a seminar on how to be compelling, is Cameron Britton. The actor inhabited the role of real-life serial killer Edmund Kemper in the first season of David Fincher’s stellar Netflix series, transforming a brutal murderer into a fascinating and eerily charming guy. And now Britton will bring those considerable talents to another realm that Fincher knows quite well: The upcoming sequel to his remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

‘The Crown’ star will hang up her royal garb for gothic attire as Lisbeth Salander in the new ‘Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ reboot/sequel.

Claire Foy could be making the transition from Queen Elizabeth to Mean Lisbeth — the star of the acclaimed Netflix series The Crown is reportedly in talks to take on the role of vengeful hacker Lisbeth Salander in Sony’s upcoming Girl With the Dragon Tattoo reboot / sequel. But Rooney Mara’s extra-dedicated portrayal of the punky protagonist (and David Fincher’s artful remake) is a tough act to follow.

Everyone has that a special movie (or two) from their childhood that they feel protective of — a film so formative and beloved that even the slightest hint of “remake” elicits a drastic eyebrow-raise. For me, it’s Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, a beautiful and wildly imaginative film filled with great music, performances and wonderful Henson puppetry that also happened to introduce me to my first crush: David Bowie. (I was five. It was significant.) And although revisiting that world with a new director could be fun under the right circumstances, I reserve the right to remain skeptical.

It’s been six years since David Fincher brought us his adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Since then rumors have surfaced about recasting Rooney Mara‘s Lisbeth Salander, sales have skyrocketed for the Stieg Larsson book series, and last fall we got word that Don’t Breathe director Fede Alvarez was in talks to join the sequel. Today brings news that the long-awaited sequel is officially happening.

David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, adapted from Stieg Larsson’s novel of the same name, was supposed to become the next big franchise for adults, a hard-R-rated series dealing with adult topics and issues. The movie was fantastic, but didn’t do as well as the studio thought it should have, so any plans for a sequel have remained whispers until now. Screenwriter Steven Knight has confirmed that he is indeed working on a script for The Girl in the Spider’s Web, which will be a sequel, of sorts, to Dragon Tattoo, and Fede Alvarez, the director of this year’s Don’t Breathe who was being courted to direct, will helm the project.

Hard to believe now, but there was a time when The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was poised to be Hollywood’s next big franchise. David Fincher’s relentlessly bleak 2011 adaptation was a sizable hit for Sony and MGM, scored a handful of Oscar nominations (including a win for Best Film Editing and a Best Actress nod for Rooney Mara’s chilling turn as hacker Lisbeth Salander) and got copies of the novels flying off shelves faster than ever. But then Fincher moved to greener airport-novel pastures with Gone Girl, Mara ran off for an intimate but forbidden sapphic affair with Cate Blanchett (who can blame her!) in Carol, and the world continued spinning apace.

What if Rutger Hauer’s relatively absurd, visually-impaired martial arts badass from Blind Fury was besieged by a home invasion in his reclusive Early Bird Special years? The answer is — to an extent — Don’t Breathe, a thriller that skews a little more toward The Collector than David Fincher’s underrated Panic Room. The latest effort from director Fede Alvarez (the Evil Dead remake) is a relentlessly intense cat-and-mouse game with a couple of hard lefts thrown into its twisted domestic labyrinth. It’s a nasty little piece of work that needs to be a bit more lean and slightly less mean.

Three years after delivering his visceral remake of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead, director Fede Alvarez returns with Don’t Breathe, an inventive new thriller that puts a nasty spin on the home invasion genre. Alvarez’s latest follows three amateur criminals that get way more than they bargained for when they target the home of a reclusive blind man, played by the intimidating Stephen Lang. I had a chance to speak with Alvarez before a recent screening in Austin, Texas, where he discussed the making of his new film, Lang’s crucial role, and whether he thinks movie trailers are too revealing.