Claire Foy to play Lisbeth Salander in 'The Girl in the Spider's Web'

Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Sony Pictures Entertainment says The Crown star Claire Foy has been hired to portray the heroine in The Girl in the Spider's Web. 

Production is to begin in January in Berlin and Stockholm, with the film scheduled to be released on Oct. 19, 2018.

Don't Breathe director Fede Alvarez is helming the second installment in Sony's Millennium film franchise, which began with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in 2012.

"I couldn't be more thrilled about Claire taking the reins of the iconic Lisbeth Salander. Claire is an incredible, rare talent who will inject a new and exciting life into Lisbeth," Alvarez said in a statement Friday. "I can't wait to bring this new story to a worldwide audience, with Claire Foy at its center."

The Millennium films are based on popular novels by the late Stieg Larsson and his successor David Lagercrantz. Lisbeth was played by Rooney Mara in the Hollywood version of Tattoo and by Noomi Rapace in several Swedish movies inspired by the books.