Sony Pictures Entertainment has officially confirmed that The Crown star Claire Foy has won the lead role of Lisbeth Salander in the upcoming film adaptation of The Girl in the Spider’s Web.
Based on the fourth installment in the Millennium series of novels (which begins with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), The Girl in the Spider’s Web will team Foy with Don’t Breathe director Fede Alvarez. Production is set to begin in January in Berlin and Stockholm, with a release date of Oct. 19, 2018.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled about Claire taking the reins of the iconic Lisbeth Salander,” said Alvarez. “Claire is an incredible, rare talent who will inject a new and exciting life into Lisbeth. I can’t wait to bring this new story to a worldwide audience, with Claire Foy at its center.”
Previous actresses to take on the role of Lisbeth Salander include Noomi Rapace in the original Swedish series and Rooney Mara in 2011’s American The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo adaptation alongside Daniel Craig.
Foy is nominated for an Emmy at this weekend’s Emmy Awards for her role as Queen Elizabeth in Netflix’s The Crown.
The screenplay for the new film is written by Steven Knight, Fede Alvarez and Jay Basu, based on the novel by David Lagercrantz. Amy Pascal and Elizabeth Cantillon will join Scott Rudin and Yellow Bird in producing the franchise’s new film.
The Girl in the Spider’s Web is also the first in the best-selling series to be produced into an English-language film in its initial adaptation, with the previous installments originated as Swedish-language films.
