The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

These huge hits should have become franchises. Sadly, it never happened.

These set the tone for some great movies.

Claire Foy steps into the role of Lisbeth Salander in the new ‘Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ reboot/sequel.

ScreenCrush’s weekly column recommends some more worthy alternatives to a spectacularly incompetent new serial killer thriller.

‘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.

America had such big plans for the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo franchise, once upon a time. The English translation of the first novel sold like Swedish hotcakes, then David Fincher’s film adaptation earned raves from critics, cleaned up at the box-office (nothing like a little rape and sadism to lighten up the holiday season), and picked up five Oscar nominations with one win. A franchise seemed all but assured, and yet nothing came together. Fincher and star Rooney Mara eventually lost interest, and while there are still rumblings that a new creative team will take over the material and give it another shot, it looks like Dragon-mania was just one of those weird national crazes. Like Jersey Shore, but easier to watch.

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.

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.

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.

We recently learned that Sony is planning a semi-reboot of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, skipping the second and third books in author Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series and moving right ahead to the fourth novel, The Girl in the Spider’s Web. But the studio is reportedly planning on making the film without director David Fincher and stars Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara. There’s just one little issue, though: Mara says as far as she knows, she’s still supposed to star in it.