The James Bond actor is set to topline Swedish remake with David Fincher directing.
By Josh Wigler

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Daniel Craig


Photo: Wendy Redfern/ Getty Images

It may be a while before Daniel Craig slips back into James Bond’s signature tuxedo, but he’s booked a trip to the tattoo parlor to keep him busy in the meantime.

Long rumored, but now confirmed, Deadline Hollywood reports that Craig has finalized a deal to star in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” the American remake of the critically acclaimed Swedish crime thriller based on the novels by late author Stieg Larsson.

The “Casino Royale” actor will star in the film as Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative journalist who finds himself in the thick of a dangerous mystery involving the disappearance nearly 40 years earlier of a wealthy industrialist’s niece. It’s currently unknown whether the character’s name, nationality and the story’s Swedish setting will change for the American adaptation, to be written by screenwriter Steve Zaillian.

Craig is the second high-profile talent to be attached to “Dragon Tattoo,” with director David Fincher (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Social Network”) already onboard to helm the project. With the role of Blomkvist filled, Fincher and producers are now tasked with finding the right actress to play Lisbeth Salander, the film’s female lead. Rumored candidates include Ellen Page (“Inception”), Emily Browning (“Sucker Punch”) and Rooney Mara (“The Social Network”).

Slated to arrive in theaters on December 21, 2011, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” is just the first film in a possible trilogy, with potential sequels including “The Girl Who Played With Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest,” also based on Larsson’s novels. (Craig has options for both films.) “Dragon Tattoo” begins filming this fall once Craig’s work on Jon Favreau’s “Cowboys and Aliens” is complete.

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