‘Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ Series in Development at Amazon MGM Studios Sets Veena Sud as Showrunner (EXCLUSIVE)
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” series currently in the works at Amazon MGM Studios has found its showrunner.
Variety has learned exclusively that Veena Sud will head up the series, which will be set in the world of the so-called Millennium novels originally written by Stieg Larsson.
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Variety previously reported that the series was in development in May 2020, though no showrunner was attached at that time. It was originally reported to be a new standalone story about one of the novels’ main characters, Lisbeth Salander, but current plot details remain under wraps. Amazon MGM Studios will produce along with Left Bank Pictures, which is based at Sony Pictures Television.
Sud is no stranger dark crime and mystery dramas. She is best known for developing the series “The Killing,” which was based on the Danish series “Forbrydelsen.” She also served as executive producer and showrunner on that series. The show aired its first three seasons on AMC while a fourth debuted on Netflix. It was nominated for a Golden Globe and six Emmys in 2011.
More recently, she created and executive produced the Netflix series “Seven Seconds,” based on the Russian film “The Major” and which dealt with police violence and racism in America. The show earned an Emmy for lead actress Regina King, as well as a Golden Globe nomination and several NAACP Image Awards. Sud’s other works include the Blumhouse film “The Lie” and the Quibi film/series hybrid “The Stranger,” both of which she wrote and directed. She also worked as a writer, executive producer, and showrunner on the CBS police procedural “Cold Case.”
She is repped by WME, Anonymous Content, and Hansen Jacobson.
Salander and Mikael Blomkvist are the primary characters of the Millennium book series, of which Larsson completed three before his death in 2004 — “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” “The Girl Who Played With Fire,” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest.” David Lagercrantz then took over writing the novels, publishing the books ” The Girl in the Spider’s Web,” “The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye,” and “The Girl Who Lived Twice.” Karin Smirnoff most recently took over the series, publishing “The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons” in 2022. The books have sold more than 100 million copies combined worldwide.
The first three books were previously adapted into a Swedish film series, with Noomi Rapace as Salander and Michael Nyqvist as Blomkvist. An American version of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” starring Rooney Mara as Salander and Daniel Craig as Blomkvist was released in 2011, while “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” starring Claire Foy and Sverrir Gudnason in the main roles came out in 2018.
(Pictured, left to right: Veena Sud, Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander in the 2011 American film “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”)
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