[Shaun]

The sequel to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo will not be released in cinemas in 2013 as originally planned.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the script for the follow-up, titled The Girl Who Played With Fire, is still a work in progress and production cannot move forward until it is finished. The sequel is being written by Steven Zaillian, who also scripted The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Released in 2011, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo starred Daniel Craig as journalist Mikael Blomqvist and Rooney Mara as computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, characters made famous in the crime novel of the same name by Swedish author Stieg Larsson. The US adaptation was directed by The Social Network's David Fincher and grossed $232 million worldwide (£146 million), which makers MGM later described as a "modest loss".

However, a source close to the production is said to have told Entertainment Weekly that the sequel is "still definitely moving forward", though the film's makers "are not in a rush". Both Craig and Mara are locked in for the sequel. Fincher has yet to sign up as director, but he remains MGM's first choice.

Larsson's trilogy of 'Millennium series' novels featuring Blomqvist and Salander have now sold more than 65 million copies worldwide. Each of the three novels - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest - has already been made into a Swedish-language film starring Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace.