Is Carey Mulligan Locked In For Fincher's 'Dragon Tattoo'? Not Quite

Could Carey Mulligan find herself in the lead role of punk heroine Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher's adaptation of Stieg Larsson's "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" after all?

Yeah, she could, but don't read too much into the U.K. reports just yet.

The London Times are reporting that the actress has "won the approval" of both Fincher and the family of the novels' late author, Larsson, after a long casting process that took weeks sifting through "nearly 5000 potential candidates." More telling, the quotes the London Times uses of Mulligan espousing how she would love to play the role is a month old.

However, this is partly untrue. Casting is still underway.

A source very close to the production informs us that while there is mutual admiration from both parties, Sony and Mulligan, regarding the potential collaboration, there's still work to be done. And, as we previously reportedly, Fincher's first idea is still to cast an unknown in the role of Salander with the director currently in the process of testing and meeting candidates (while he's editing "The Social Network," which obviously isn't easy, nor full steam ahead yet).

Either way, any talk of casting for the production is still premature as no script has been completed yielding any news on that front irrelevant. No deals can be completed until Academy Award-winning scribe Steve Zaillian hands in a script, which will then go out to the likes of Mulligan. For all we know, the actress' interest in the project could be extinguished once all that happens. And yes, she could love it and take the role, we included wouldn't fret, but to say she has the role at this stage in the game is half-baked.

The script, and more subsequent developments, shouldn't be too far off though with Zaillian recently taking time out to sign a first-look, two-year producing deal with Dreamworks. While already one of the most regarded screenwriters working today, the agreement puts the "Schindler's List" and "Gangs Of New York" writer on the same power pedestal as the likes of J.J. Abrams stable writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman whose projects have grossed billions of dollars recently with the 'Transformers' films and Abrams' "Star Trek" and have a similar deal at Dreamworks (though yes, Zaillian's work has been much more admired and respected for years -- Orci and Kurtzman will never win an Oscar, let alone earn a nomination -- but screenwriters scoring producing deals is rare and a whole other level of clout).

As it stands then, the only talent attached at this point to 'Dragon Tattoo' is Fincher himself, who has lined up the first and second installments of Larsson's Millennium trilogy as short-term potential directorial efforts. Brad Pitt was also being thrown around as a tentative male lead which doesn't surprise given his associations with the director but would still be a major coup for the adaptation. Production on the project will likely start in the fall after Fincher is free of any commitments on "The Social Network," which has an October release.