Stieg Larsson‘s Millennium novels have proved to be a surprisingly tough nut for Hollywood to crack. The original trilogy of hard-edged Swedish crime novels, which kicked off with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, was a massive bestseller, despite Larsson dying unexpectedly before any of them could be published. They were soon adapted into well-regarded Swedish films starring Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace; David Fincher then adapted the first novel in 2011 with Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara. Although that film was expected to be a breakout hit, it struggled at the box office, as did a follow-up, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, which starred Claire Foy. Now, for the first time, the series is coming to TV, and producers are hoping that the third time will be the charm.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is Lisbeth Salander, a hacker with a dark and troubled past. She finds herself allied with Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced reporter who works for the magazine Millennium. Together, they investigate the case of Harriet Vanger, the scion of the wealthy Vanger family, who disappeared decades ago and is presumed long-dead. Soon, the duo finds that the Vanger family has far more secrets than the ones they were hired to investigate, and that neither of them may be allowed to live with the knowledge they’ve accrued…

Deadline reports that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo will star David Oyelowo as Blomkvist and Viola Prettejohn as Salander. Oyelowo is a veteran star of the big and small screens, starring in Selma, Silo, and Lawmen: Bass Reeves; he’s next set to star as the legendary pirate Long John Silver in a new miniseries adaptation of Treasure Island. Prettejohn is a relative newcomer who starred on The Nevers and The Testament of Ann Lee, but she has a notable connection to another Lisbeth Salander; she played a young then-Princess Elizabeth on the TV series The Crown, while an adult Elizabeth was played by Claire Foy.

Who Is Making ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’?

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo will be adapted for TV by the British TV network Sky, in association with Sony Pictures Television and Left Bank Pictures; it will be written by Amanda Coe, Steve Lightfoot, and Angela LaManna. The expanded format of a TV miniseries will allow the new adaptation to include more of the book’s many subplots and details about the sinister Vanger family.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is in development; it will begin filming in Lithuania next month.

via Collider