Rooney Mara joins cast for U.S. version of 'Dragon Tattoo'

The coveted role of angst-ridden computer hacker Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher's U.S. remake of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" has gone to Rooney Mara, Sony Pictures said Tuesday.

If the name sounds familiar to sports fans, it should: Mara is the great-granddaughter of New York Giants founder Tim Mara. Her father is Chris Mara, the Giants' vice president of player evaluation.

Rooney Mara, 25, whose first name is Patricia, is known professionally by her middle name - that of her mother's grandfather, Art Rooney, founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Mara beat out higher-profile stars such as Natalie Portman, Cary Mulligan and Emma Watson, according to MTV. There also was speculation elsewhere that Scarlett Johansson was in the running.

Noomi Rapace, who played Salander in the Swedish film trilogy adapted from Stieg Larsson's best-selling novels, declined to be considered for the U.S. version, said Time magazine's website.

Production is set to begin next month in Sweden, according to Sony, with a scheduled release date of Dec. 21, 2011.

JOLIE AS MARILYN.Angelina Jolie will play screen icon Marilyn Monroe in a film version of Andrew O'Hagan's upcoming novel "The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe," with George Clooney set to play Frank Sinatra.

The Scottish author made the announcement during the weekend at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said the London newspaper The Times. The book is scheduled to be published in the United States by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on Dec. 6.

The novel tells the story of the film star's latter days, told from the point of view of the real-life pet given to her by Sinatra, who according to Monroe biographies purchased the dog from actress Natalie Wood's mother. Either a poodle or a Maltese, per differing sources, the dog was named Maf as a diminutive, legend has it, of "Mafia," an allusion to Sinatra's alleged mob connections.

Maf was 3 when Monroe died at 36, and afterward lived with Sinatra's secretary, Gloria Lovell, according to biographers.