Daniel Craig (Casino Royale) has officially signed on to play journalist Mikael Blomkvist in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This deal includes options for two sequels based on The Girl Who Played with Fire and  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the novels written by Stieg Larsson.

Director David Fincher (Se7en, Zodiac) has signed on to direct the first installment and is negotiating for the trilogy. The film will begin shooting as soon as Craig wraps Jon Favreau’s Cowboys and Aliens. The film is set to hit theaters on December 21st of 2011.

The new movie describes the mystery surrounding the long-unsolved disappearance of an heiress. Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Craig), recently dinged by a libel case, and young female hacker Lisbeth Salander try to resolve it, stirring up bundles of personal and industrial corruption along the way.

An actress to play Lisbeth has yet to be found.