EXCLUSIVE: Sky has found its Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander for the network’s upcoming TV adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

David Oyelowo (Silo) and rising star Viola Prettejohn (The Crown) will play the leads in Sony Pictures Television and Left Bank Pictures’ splashy adaptation, which comes around 15 years after the movies starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.

Sky’s long-gestating TV version of the first in Larsson’s Millennium trilogy brings the story to the present day. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo follows cancelled star journalist Blomkvist and uncompromising hacker Salander as they investigate the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, who vanished more than three decades ago from the secluded island home of one of Sweden’s most powerful industrial dynasties. As they delve deeper into the Vanger family’s buried past, their investigation draws them closer to a chilling threat unfolding dangerously close to them in the present.

More casting is incoming and Deadline understands the TV version from writers Amanda Coe, Steve Lightfoot and Angela LaManna will include the wider Vanger family and explore the family in more depth than the movies. Filming commences in Lithuania next month.

Oyelowo and Prettejohn are an intriguing combination. Oyelowo, who is also EPing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is an Emmy and BAFTA-nominated star of the likes of Lawmen: Bass Reeves and the upcoming Treasure Island. Prettejohn is less well known but she played the young Princess Elizabeth in Left Bank’s fellow series The Crown. Other credits include Amadeus, The Testament of Ann Lee and Brides.

Sky scripted originals boss Meghan Lyvers said Salander and Blomkvist are “two of modern fiction’s most iconic and compelling characters, and we’re thrilled to have Viola and David bringing them to life for a new generation.”

Left Bank boss Charlotte Moore, who is also EPing the series, added: “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an iconic story with themes of power, corruption, justice and violence against women that feel even more timely today. In Viola Prettejohn and David Oyelowo, we have two extraordinary actors at the heart of this adaptation and really look forward to audiences enjoying their take on these compelling and complex characters.”

Sony Pictures Television, which owns Left Bank, is selling the show abroad and is looking for buyers in the U.S. It will be bringing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to next month’s MIPCOM.

Having been in the ether for some time, the TV version has had a long, winding journey to screen. Just after Sky announced its greenlight earlier this year, Banijay and Sony entered a rights dispute revolving around Banijay believing the TV and film rights had reverted back to them since The Girl in the Spider’s Web movie aired. Banijay produced the original Swedish movies. We understand this dispute was resolved amicably.

Three American movies were made from the Millennium trilogy, finishing in 2018. A Swedish version was also made in the noughties with Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is written and executive produced by Coe, Lightfoot and LaManna. Reinaldo Marcus Green directs and executive produces, with Andrea Harkin and Amy Neil also directing. Executive producers are Moore and John Phillips for Left Bank Pictures and Sam Hoyle for Sky. Nuala O’Leary is series producer. Scott Rudin and Amy Pascal, who produced the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movies, also serve as executive producers. The creative team also includes production designer Jo Finkel, cinematographer Yaron Orbach, hair and make-up designer Sharon Martin, and costume designer Nicole Fischnaller.

Oyelowo is repped by CAA, Hamilton Hodell, and Del Shaw. Prettejohn is repped by CAA.

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