Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara have been cast in the lead roles of Columbia Pictures’ three-picture adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s literary blockbuster The Millennium Trilogy under the direction of David Fincher.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – the first film of the series, which also includes The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest – begins shooting next month in Sweden and is set for release October 21, 2011.

Rooney Mara’s casting for the much sought-after role of Lisbeth Salander is quite a bit surprising given that such A-List actresses such as Ellen Page (Inception), Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Kristen Stewart (Twilight series) were also trying for the same role. I would venture that most people do not yet know who Rooney Mara is because her previous acting credits only include Youth in Revolt and 2010’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. But this project will re-team Mara with director David Fincher, with whom she worked on The Social Network set for release Oct. 1 about the rise of the popular social media network site Facebook. So, Mara is sure to be a household name soon.