Despite 2011's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo performing well critically and commercially, the movie didn't end up launching a film series based around author Stieg Larsson's original Millennium trilogy of books. Due to behind-the-scenes delays, The Girl Who Played with Fire's cinematic adaptation was cancelled, and eventually it was decided that a soft relaunch was in order. Cut to The Girl in the Spider's Web, based off the fourth novel of the Millennium series that was written by David Lagercrantz. The Crown's Claire Foy is taking over as protagonist hacker Lisbeth Salander from Rooney Mara, and for those of you who've been wondering how Foy's version of Lisbeth will differ from Mara's, Foy says that the character's look has been toned down. The actress explained:
It's quite a pared-down look. The costume we've found for Lisbeth isn't the same as what any of the other actresses have worn, but it feels very like-minded. Her [thinking] now is, 'I want to make sure that I'm wearing it --- it's not wearing me.'
Claire Foy is the third actress to play Lisbeth Salander on the big screen following Rooney Mara and Noomi Rapace, the latter of whom played the character in the Swedish adaptations of the original Millennium trilogy. Both those versions of Lisbeth were quite visually distinctive, what with the tattoos, piercing and leather wardrobe. In other words, it wouldn't be too difficult to spot her in a crowd. However, as Foy noted, when we reunite with Lisbeth in The Girl in the Spider's Web book, she's trying to put the events of the previous books behind her, hence the stylistic evolution. Even though the cinematic adaptation of The Girl in the Spider's Web isn't following behind adaptations of The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the movie will still honor this transitional period in Lisbeth's life, hence why she's going for a slightly different look.
However, even with these visual differences, don't think that means that Claire Foy's Lisbeth Salander won't still be recognizable. Along with sporting her trademark tattoo, Claire Foy also told Yahoo that she had a hand in picking out some new ink that the protagonist will display in The Girl in the Spider's Web. Foy continued:
I love the tattoos, because I got to help decide what I was having and where they were.
Serving as a sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo rather than being a full-blown reboot, The Girl in the Spider's Web will follow Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist as they find themselves caught in a proverbial web of spies, cyber criminals and corrupt government officials. Along with Claire Foy, the main cast includes Sverrir Gudnason, Sylvia Hoeks, Claes Bang, Cameron Britton, LaKeith Stansfield, Stephen Merchant, Synnøve Macody Lund, Vicky Krieps and Andreja Pejic.
Directed by Don't Breathe's Fede Álvarez and written by Steven Knight, The Girl in the Spider's Web opens in theaters on November 9. Check out our 2018 release schedule to learn what other movies come out this year.
