Sky’s ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ Series Finally Finds Its Lisbeth Salander
Few crime stories have proven as durable as Stieg Larsson’s Millennium books, and a new ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo‘ series is about to test that staying power on the small screen. The novels have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, so the pressure to get the casting right is enormous. The project has also had a long road to get here.
The story has been filmed before, and by big names. Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist led the Swedish films, while Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig starred in David Fincher’s 2011 American version. Claire Foy later took over as Lisbeth Salander in 2018’s ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’. Each new take has had to answer the same question of who can inhabit these characters.
Sky now has its answer. David Oyelowo and Viola Prettejohn will lead the series, with Oyelowo playing disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist and Prettejohn as hacker Lisbeth Salander, according to an exclusive from Deadline. The adaptation arrives around 15 years after the movies starring Craig and Mara.
Oyelowo is the seasoned name of the pair. The Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actor is known for ‘Silo’ and ‘Selma’, and he’s also an executive producer on the series. His recent credits include ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’, and he’s set to appear in the upcoming ‘Treasure Island’.
Prettejohn is the rising star. She played the young Princess Elizabeth in ‘The Crown’, and her other credits include ‘Amadeus’, ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ and ‘Brides’. There’s also a neat piece of franchise trivia here, since she was reportedly cast in ‘The Crown’ because of her resemblance to Foy, who later played Salander on film.
Sky’s scripted originals chief clearly believes in the pairing. Managing director Meghan Lyvers called the characters two of modern fiction’s most iconic and compelling figures and said the network is thrilled to have the two actors bringing them to life for a new generation.
The 8-part series brings the story into the present day, keeping the characters, mystery and investigative DNA of Larsson’s novels. It also explores how power, secrecy and misogyny take on new and insidious forms in a more connected digital world. The central case remains the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, who vanished more than 3 decades ago from the secluded island home of one of Sweden’s most powerful industrial dynasties.
Blomkvist is a canceled star journalist, while Salander is an uncompromising hacker. Deadline reports the series will dig deeper into the wider Vanger family than the previous films, with further casting still to come. That should give the 8-episode format room to breathe in ways a single feature never could.
Behind the scenes, the series is written and executive produced by Amanda Coe, Steve Lightfoot and Angela LaManna. Oscar-nominated ‘King Richard’ director Reinaldo Marcus Green is lead director and an executive producer. Left Bank Pictures, the company behind ‘The Crown’ and ‘Dept Q’, is producing alongside Sony Pictures Television.
The journey wasn’t straightforward. Amazon MGM Studios had a new adaptation in the works for years, with Veena Sud attached as showrunner, before Sky took over the project this January. Amazon has since left the series behind, while Sony Pictures Television and Left Bank remain involved.
Filming is set to begin in Lithuania next month. The show will air on Sky in the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and Sony Pictures Television is handling international distribution and will introduce the series to global clients at Mipcom in October. Sony is still looking for a U.S. buyer.
What do you think of David Oyelowo and Viola Prettejohn as Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander?
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