Girl With The Dragon Tattoo TV Series In The Works

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo TV series is in the works over at Amazon / Sony. However, it will not be a TV adaptation of author Stieg Larsson's bestselling novel (which has had both foreign and Hollywood movie adaptations), or its sequels in the "Millenium Trilogy." Instead, Girl With the Dragon Tattoo will open a new chapter for series protagonist, hacker/vigilante Lisbeth Salander, set in modern times. That update will include a new setting and set of characters as well, Variety reports. So far, there is no actress cast in the Lisbeth Salander role, nor is there a lead writer attached to the series.

Andy Harries of Left Bank Pictures (The Crown, Strike Back, Outlander) is executive producing, alongside Rob Bullock (Strike Back, The Night Manager). No word yet on when Amazon would be looking to launch the series.

Like so many other streaming services, Amazon Prime TV has been looking for high-profile content to compete with rivals like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+, which have all stacked up some big breakthrough hit original series. In the case of Prime Video, Amazon's strategy has turned from riskier high-concept shows like Transparent and The Man in the High Castle, to big name-recognition titles like Jack Ryan, the upcoming Lord of the Rings series, and now Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

However, it's highly questionable whether the Dragon Tattoo franchise is the kind of name-recognition sure bet that Amazon hopes for. While the Swedish films managed to get through the entire Millenium Trilogy, David Fincher's 2011 Hollywood remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo only earned $100+ million domestically, and $232 million worldwide (on a $90 million budget). It was critically acclaimed and positively received by fans, but not enough of a mainstream breakthrough to be a successful franchise-starter.

If that's not proof enough: Sony just tried to relaunch the franchise with a sequel/reboot film in 2018, The Girl in the Spider's Web. That film only had a budget of $43 million, but still ended up being a box office bomb, only earning $35 million worldwide. That's pretty strong evidence - on a global scale - that the Lisbeth Salander franchise had run out of gas.

However, while the dark themes of the storyline didn't necessarily draw people into theaters, it could be different on a streaming platform. TV is home to many darkly-themed series, many of which are currently hits (Mindhunter, The Handmaid's Tale, The Boys). A long-form Dragon Tattoo series that gives the franchise a truly fresh start is enough of blank canvass for a talented showrunner (or Fincher himself?) to make something great.

We'll keep you updated on the progress of Amazon's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.