Millennium Trilogy
Encyclopedia
The Millennium series is a series of bestselling novels
originally written in Swedish
by the late Stieg Larsson
. The primary characters in the series are Lisbeth Salander
, an intelligent, eccentric woman in her twenties with a photographic memory
and poor social skills, and Mikael Blomkvist
, an investigative journalist and editor of a magazine called Millennium. Blomkvist, the character, has a history similar to Larsson, the author. Originally, ten books in total were planned, but only three were completed:
Larsson was also influenced by the murders of three women (Melissa Nordell, Fadime Sahindal
, and Catrine Da Costa
) in writing the Millennium series. All three women were killed either at the hands of men or as victims of horror crimes. To Larsson, there was no difference and the "systematic violence" against women highly affected and inspired him to take action against these crimes through his writing. Eva Gabrielsson
, Larsson's longtime partner, wrote that "the trilogy allowed Stieg to denounce everyone he loathed for their cowardice, their irresponsibility, and their opportunism: couch-potato activists, sunny-day warriors, fair-weather skippers who pick and choose their causes; false friends who used him to advance their own careers; unscrupulous company heads and shareholders who wangle themselves huge bonuses... Seen in this light, Stieg couldn't have had any better therapy for what ailed his soul than writing his novels."
Larsson submitted the manuscripts for all three volumes in the series to two Swedish publishers, with Norstedts Förlag accepting the manuscripts for publication. Norstedts commissioned Steve Murray
, under the pen-name of Reg Keeland, to undertake the English translation. Larsson tried to get British publishers to accept his book, but was turned down until Christopher Maclehose bought the global English language rights of the book for Quercus
, a small London publisher. Alfred A. Knopf
bought the U.S. rights to the books after Larsson's death in 2004.
By May 2010, 27 million copies have been sold worldwide.
, is in possession of the notebook computer with the manuscript but does not own the rights to Larsson's work. This is because Larsson, in an attempt to protect Gabrielsson from the people he was investigating in real life (Swedish Neo-Nazis and racists), never married and wrote his will without any witness (thus making it invalid according to Swedish law). Thus, at his death, it is his family that ended with the succession. Outlines or manuscripts for one or two more books may exist.
has produced film versions of the Millennium Trilogy, co-produced with The Danish film production company Nordisk Film
and television company, which were released in Scandinavia in 2009. In 2010, the films were shown in an extended version of approximately 180 minutes per film as a six-part miniseries
(each film divided in two parts of 90 minutes) on Swedish television. This version was released on July 14, 2010 on DVD and Blu-ray in three separate sets and on November 24, 2010 as a Complete Millennium Trilogy box set with an extra disc.
Originally, only the first film was meant for a theatrical release, with the following ones conceived as TV movies, but this was changed in the wake of the tremendous success of the first film. The first film was directed by Niels Arden Oplev
and the next two by Daniel Alfredson
, while the screenplays of the first two were adapted by Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg, and the last one by Ulf Rydberg and Jonas Frykberg. All three films feature Michael Nyqvist
as Mikael Blomkvist and Noomi Rapace
as Lisbeth Salander.
, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, and BBC Films
have partnered with Sony Pictures to produce an American adaptation of the trilogy. The films are to be written by Steven Zaillian
, directed by David Fincher
and produced by Scott Rudin
, with Daniel Craig
as Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Momentum Pictures
will return to distribute the films along with Optimum Releasing
(first film), Entertainment Film Distributors
(second film), and E1 Entertainment (third film).
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
originally written in Swedish
Swedish literature
Swedish literature refers to literature written in the Swedish language or by writers from Sweden.The first literary text from Sweden is the Rök Runestone, carved during the Viking Age circa 800 AD. With the conversion of the land to Christianity around 1100 AD, Sweden entered the Middle Ages,...
by the late Stieg Larsson
Stieg Larsson
Karl Stig-Erland Larsson , who wrote professionally as Stieg Larsson, was a Swedish journalist and writer, born in Skelleftehamn outside Skellefteå. He is best known for writing the "Millennium series" of crime novels, which were published posthumously...
. The primary characters in the series are Lisbeth Salander
Lisbeth Salander
Lisbeth Salander is a fictional character created by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. She is the heroine of Larsson's award-winning "Millennium series", first appearing in the novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...
, an intelligent, eccentric woman in her twenties with a photographic memory
Eidetic memory
Eidetic , commonly referred to as photographic memory, is a medical term, popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision and in abundant volume. The word eidetic, referring to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall not limited to, but...
and poor social skills, and Mikael Blomkvist
Mikael Blomkvist
Mikael Blomkvist is a fictional character created by writer Stieg Larsson who appears as a main character in the Millennium series along with Lisbeth Salander.-Name:...
, an investigative journalist and editor of a magazine called Millennium. Blomkvist, the character, has a history similar to Larsson, the author. Originally, ten books in total were planned, but only three were completed:
- The Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an award-winning crime novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. It is the first book in the trilogy known as the "Millennium series"....
(Män som hatar kvinnor, literally Men Who Hate Women) (2005) - The Girl Who Played with FireThe Girl Who Played with FireThe Girl Who Played with Fire is the second novel in the best-selling "Millennium series" by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. It was published posthumously in Swedish in 2006 and in English in January 2009....
(Flickan som lekte med elden, literally The Girl Who Played with the Fire) (2006) - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' NestThe Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' NestThe Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is the third and final novel in the best-selling "Millennium series"by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson.The novel is the sequel to The Girl Who Played with Fire....
(Luftslottet som sprängdes, literally The Castle Made Of Air Which Was Blown Up) (2007)
Origins and publication
When Larsson was 15 years old, he witnessed the gang rape of a girl, which led to his lifelong abhorrence of violence and abuse against women. The author never forgave himself for failing to help the girl, which inspired the themes of sexual violence against women in his books.Larsson was also influenced by the murders of three women (Melissa Nordell, Fadime Sahindal
Fadime Sahindal
Fadime Şahindal was a Kurdish immigrant who moved to Sweden from Turkey at the age of seven. She was murdered by her father, Rahmi, in January 2002 in an "honor killing".-Life:...
, and Catrine Da Costa
Catrine da Costa
Catrine da Costa was a Swedish woman found dead in Solna, north of Stockholm, in the late summer of 1984. Her body had been dismembered and left in plastic bags that were found on two occasions, 18 July and 8 August , one kilometer apart. The case is mostly known as Styckmordsrättegången...
) in writing the Millennium series. All three women were killed either at the hands of men or as victims of horror crimes. To Larsson, there was no difference and the "systematic violence" against women highly affected and inspired him to take action against these crimes through his writing. Eva Gabrielsson
Eva Gabrielsson
Eva Gabrielsson is a Swedish architect, author, political activist, feminist, and the long-time partner of the late Swedish mystery novelist Stieg Larsson....
, Larsson's longtime partner, wrote that "the trilogy allowed Stieg to denounce everyone he loathed for their cowardice, their irresponsibility, and their opportunism: couch-potato activists, sunny-day warriors, fair-weather skippers who pick and choose their causes; false friends who used him to advance their own careers; unscrupulous company heads and shareholders who wangle themselves huge bonuses... Seen in this light, Stieg couldn't have had any better therapy for what ailed his soul than writing his novels."
Larsson submitted the manuscripts for all three volumes in the series to two Swedish publishers, with Norstedts Förlag accepting the manuscripts for publication. Norstedts commissioned Steve Murray
Steven T. Murray
Steven T. Murray is an American translator from Swedish, German, Danish, and Norwegian. He has worked under the pseudonyms Reg Keeland and McKinley Burnett when edited into UK English...
, under the pen-name of Reg Keeland, to undertake the English translation. Larsson tried to get British publishers to accept his book, but was turned down until Christopher Maclehose bought the global English language rights of the book for Quercus
Quercus (publisher)
Quercus Publishing Plc is an independent publishing house, based in London.It was founded in 2004 by Mark Smith and Wayne Davies, who had previously worked together at the Orion Publishing Group.It is known for its lists in crime Quercus Publishing Plc (PLUS Markets: ) is an independent publishing...
, a small London publisher. Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
bought the U.S. rights to the books after Larsson's death in 2004.
By May 2010, 27 million copies have been sold worldwide.
Unfinished material
Larsson wrote about three-quarters of a fourth novel before his sudden death in November 2004. His partner, Eva GabrielssonEva Gabrielsson
Eva Gabrielsson is a Swedish architect, author, political activist, feminist, and the long-time partner of the late Swedish mystery novelist Stieg Larsson....
, is in possession of the notebook computer with the manuscript but does not own the rights to Larsson's work. This is because Larsson, in an attempt to protect Gabrielsson from the people he was investigating in real life (Swedish Neo-Nazis and racists), never married and wrote his will without any witness (thus making it invalid according to Swedish law). Thus, at his death, it is his family that ended with the succession. Outlines or manuscripts for one or two more books may exist.
Swedish films
The Swedish film production company Yellow BirdYellow Bird (company)
Yellow Bird is a Swedish film and television production company founded by best-selling novelist Henning Mankell and film-producers Ole Søndberg and Lars Björkman. The company was founded to produce films based on Mankell's Kurt Wallander novels. Yellow Bird was sold to Danish media house Zodiak...
has produced film versions of the Millennium Trilogy, co-produced with The Danish film production company Nordisk Film
Nordisk Film
Nordisk Film , established in Denmark in 1906 by Danish filmmaker Ole Olsen, is the oldest continuously operating film studio in the world. Olsen started his company in the Copenhagen suburb of Valby under the name "Ole Olsen's Film Factory" but soon changed it to the Nordisk Film Kompagni...
and television company, which were released in Scandinavia in 2009. In 2010, the films were shown in an extended version of approximately 180 minutes per film as a six-part miniseries
Millennium (Swedish miniseries)
Millennium is a Swedish six-part television series that aired in 2010, which was based on the film trilogy of Stieg Larsson's Millennium series. The series was produced by Yellow Bird in cooperation with several production companies, including SVT, Nordisk Film and Film i Väst. Unlike the films,...
(each film divided in two parts of 90 minutes) on Swedish television. This version was released on July 14, 2010 on DVD and Blu-ray in three separate sets and on November 24, 2010 as a Complete Millennium Trilogy box set with an extra disc.
Originally, only the first film was meant for a theatrical release, with the following ones conceived as TV movies, but this was changed in the wake of the tremendous success of the first film. The first film was directed by Niels Arden Oplev
Niels Arden Oplev
Niels Arden Oplev is a writer-director from Denmark.-Biography:He directed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the film based on Stieg Larsson's novel of the same title and won critical acclaim internationally. Oplev decided to not continue directing the second and third parts of the Millennium...
and the next two by Daniel Alfredson
Daniel Alfredson
Hans Daniel Björn Alfredson is a Swedish film director who is best known for directing film versions of two parts of the Millennium Trilogy: The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest...
, while the screenplays of the first two were adapted by Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg, and the last one by Ulf Rydberg and Jonas Frykberg. All three films feature Michael Nyqvist
Michael Nyqvist
Rolf Åke Michael Nyqvist is a Swedish actor. Educated at the School of Drama in Malmö, he became well known from his role as police officer Banck in the first series of Beck movies made in 1997. He is recently most recognized for his role in the internationally acclaimed Millennium series as...
as Mikael Blomkvist and Noomi Rapace
Noomi Rapace
Noomi Rapace is a Swedish actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish/Danish film adaptations of the "Millennium series": The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest...
as Lisbeth Salander.
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, released on February 25, 2009.
- The Girl Who Played with FireThe Girl Who Played with Fire (film)The Girl Who Played with Fire is a 2009 Swedish thriller film directed by Daniel Alfredson, and the sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by the late Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson, the second in his "Millennium series".The...
, released on September 18, 2009. - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' NestThe Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (film)The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is a 2009 Swedish thriller film directed by Daniel Alfredson. It is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by the late Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson, the third and final entry in his "Millennium series". More were to follow, but because...
, released on November 27, 2009.
American films
Yellow Bird, Relativity MediaRelativity Media
Relativity Media is an American independent motion picture production and investment company based in West Hollywood, California.- Company :...
, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, and BBC Films
BBC Films
BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.It aims to make strong British films with...
have partnered with Sony Pictures to produce an American adaptation of the trilogy. The films are to be written by Steven Zaillian
Steven Zaillian
Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian is an American screenwriter, film director, film editor, producer, and founder of Film Rites, a film production company. He won an Academy Award for his screenplay for Schindler's List and he has been nominated two times for Awakenings and Gangs of New York...
, directed by David Fincher
David Fincher
David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...
and produced by Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin is an American film producer and a theatrical producer.-Early life and work:Scott Rudin was born in New York City, NY, on July 14, 1958, and raised in the town of Baldwin on Long Island. At the age of sixteen, he started working as an assistant to theatre producer Kermit Bloomgarden...
, with Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. His early film roles include Elizabeth, The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle, Zorro and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert...
as Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Momentum Pictures
Momentum Pictures
Momentum Pictures , an Alliance Films company, is one of the leading independent motion picture distributors in the UK and Ireland and releases approximately 20 theatrical films a year, with several stv releases....
will return to distribute the films along with Optimum Releasing
Optimum Releasing
StudioCanal UK is a film distributor company working in the UK and Ireland. The company releases many films, including foreign language films, anime releases such as Studio Ghibli's films and independent British, Irish and American films in the UK and sometimes Ireland.Optimum was acquired by...
(first film), Entertainment Film Distributors
Entertainment Film Distributors
Entertainment Film Distributors is a British distributor of independent films in the UK and Ireland for various production companies; it is owned by Nigel Green who started the company in 1978. Their first big success was the successful horror Terror made by cult filmmaker Norman J...
(second film), and E1 Entertainment (third film).
- The Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011 film)The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an upcoming English-language drama thriller film that is the second film based on the Swedish novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson. The first film was the 2009 Swedish-language adaptation. The upcoming film is written by Steven Zaillian and directed by David...
, planned for release in December 2011 - The Girl Who Played with Fire, planned for release in 2012
- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest , planned for release in 2013