The suspense is finally over. Or, rather, it's finally about to begin.
Rooney Mara has been cast as Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher's English-language update of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."
And, yes, she signed on the dotted line for the entire trilogy, which includes "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest." She'll co-star with Robin Wright and Daniel Craig, who has plenty of time on his hands now the next Bond movie is on the back burner.
"Dragon Tattoo" is set to unspool on Dec. 21, 2011. "The Millennium Trilogy," on which the films are based, was a posthumous success for author Stieg Larsson, and has already been adapted into Swedish-language versions starring Noomi Rapace.
Mara beat out plenty of higher-profile leads for the role, among them Kristen Stewart, Carey Mulligan, Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman.
Of course, Rooney's previous experience with Fincher probably helped a bit. She'll soon be glimpsed in his upcoming Facebook tell-all, "The Social Network." Other than that, she's best known for taking on the Heather Langenkamp role in this year's update on "Nightmare on Elm Street."
In other words, it's safe to say she can handle a beating. But whether she's got what it takes to go through the particular ringer forced upon Lisbeth Salander remains to be seen (as does whether Sony is going to be quite as unrelenting on the character as the book is).
