David Fincher's 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' is Rooney Mara

Rooney Mara is Lisabeth Salander in David Fincher's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

Credit: AP Photo/Pete Kramer

After a long, drawn out casting process, director David Fincher finally has his Lisbeth Salander.  The lead role in the English-language adaptation of Stieg Larsson's literary phenomenon "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" will be played by Rooney Mara.  

"Dragon" tells the story of a journalist and a young hacker who become unlikely partners in solving a decades old missing persons case.

The novel is literary powerhouse having sold over 40 million copies and has already produced a Swedish-language version of the film which has grossed a stunning $9 million in less than 202 theaters in the U.S. and $102 million globally.  The second book in the series, "The Girl Who Played with Fire," has already made $4 million in limited release since debuting last month.

Recently seen as Nancy in last spring's remake of "A Nightmare Before Elm Street," Mara isn't an unknown quantity for Fincher.  The two worked together on the filmmaker's highly anticipated "The Social Network," which arrives in theaters in Oct. The younger sister of Kate Mara, Rooney is also the niece of John Mara, co-owner of the NFL's New York Giants and her father has a prominent role in the organization.

Sony Pictures also confirmed today longstanding reports that Daniel Craig will play "Dragon's" other major role, that of the crusading journalist, Mikael Blomkvist.  Craig is currently wrapping up production on Jon Favreau's "Cowboys and Aliens" alongside Harrison Ford and standing by for any word on if and when the next James Bond film is going to happen.

Fincher's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" will begin shooting next month in, appropriately, Sweden.  It's currently scheduled for a Dec. 21, 2011 release.

Gregory Ellwood
Editor-in-Chief, Co-Founder

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With over a decade of experience in the movie industry, Ellwood survived working for two major studios and has written for Variety, MSN and the LA Times. A co-founder of HitFix, Ellwood spends his time relaxing hitting 3’s on the basketball court and following his beloved Clippers.