'The Girl who Played with Fire' moved to 2014....maybe

Deep breath, Lisbeth Salander fans! You'll be getting your sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo after all, it'll just be a little later than you'd hoped. Like a year later. There had been some question whether or not Sony would invest in The Girl who Played with Fire after the first film did just a hair over $100M domestically, but a substantial haul in the foreign market sealed the deal, and Steve Zaillian was hired to get crackin' on a script. Earlier this year, Sony had everything mapped out for production to begin in a year, which would have had the film hitting theaters near the end of 2013, but now that's no longer the case.

Instead, the film will open in 2014, and even that's kind of a soft target date. It could be later than that if Zaillian's script needs work, or if the busy Daniel Craig and  Rooney Mara have other things going on. Both are locked up for all three movies, so one way or another they'll be a part of any follow-ups. The big question is whether or not David Fincher will return as director. He's not confirmed for anything right now, although he remains Sony's top choice. Personally, my interest in the entire franchise plummets without him.

While Sony has given us constant assurances that The Girl who Played with Fire would happen, I guess it's good to hear it one more time. [EW]