THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Series Casts David Oyelowo and Viola Prettejohn as Its Leads
Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist are heading back to the screen, and Sky has found the two actors who will take on the iconic characters.
David Oyelowo (Silo) has been cast as Mikael Blomkvist in the new The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo TV series, with Viola Prettejohn (The Crown) stepping into the role of Lisbeth Salander. The upcoming Sky Original will run for eight episodes, with filming expected to begin next month.
Based on Stieg Larsson’s popular Millennium novels, the story follows disgraced magazine journalist Blomkvist as he gets an unexpected shot at redemption. Henrik Vanger, the patriarch of a wealthy family, hires him to investigate the decades-old disappearance of his niece.
The investigation eventually brings Blomkvist together with Salander, a gifted hacker with a confrontational personality and a complicated past. Their search for answers pulls them into a disturbing history filled with deception, coverups, and murder.
This version of the story will reportedly spend more time exploring the larger Vanger family, giving the series room to dig into characters and relationships previous adaptations couldn’t cover as extensively.
Sky scripted originals executive Meghan Lyvers said Salander and Blomkvist are “two of modern fiction’s most iconic and compelling characters, and we’re thrilled to have Viola and David bringing them to life for a new generation.”
Charlotte Moore, an executive producer on the series, added: “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an iconic story with themes of power, corruption, justice, and violence against women that feel even more timely today.
“In Viola Prettejohn and David Oyelowo, we have two extraordinary actors at the heart of this adaptation and really look forward to audiences enjoying their take on these compelling and complex characters.”
Amanda Coe (Black Narcissus), Steve Lightfoot (The Punisher, Hannibal), and Angela LaManna (The Punisher, Channel Zero) will write and executive produce the series.
Salander and Blomkvist have already had quite a journey across film adaptations. Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist played the characters in the Swedish movie trilogy before David Fincher brought his version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to theaters with Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig.
Mara earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance as Salander, and Fincher was originally attached to direct two additional films. Those sequels ultimately didn’t happen.
Claire Foy later inherited the Salander role for The Girl in the Spider’s Web, directed by Fede Álvarez. Prime Video also spent time developing a separate Girl with the Dragon Tattoo television project, but that version never made it to production.
The books have continued well beyond Larsson’s original trilogy. Following Larsson’s death, David Lagercrantz wrote three more Millennium novels, while Karin Smirnoff is currently working through another trilogy.
More than two decades after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo first introduced readers to Salander and Blomkvist, these characters continue to find their way back to the screen. The eight-episode format could be a great fit for the material.
Oyelowo and Prettejohn are certainly an interesting pairing for this latest incarnation. Now we’ll have to see what they bring to two characters who already have some memorable performances attached to their names.
