Daniel Craig may be cut from Girl Who Played with Fire

It appears that Sony's disappointment with David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is starting to set in.

Rumor has it that if a second film is even released (aka, The Girl Who Played with Fire) one key character may be written out. That character being Mikael Blomkvist who was played by Daniel Craig. Seeing that the second installment of the Millennium trilogy doesn't have a whole lot to do with Blomkvist and more to do with Lisbeth Salander this could potentially work. However, it seems that Sony may want to dump Craig entirely because his post-Skyfall pay demand has become too high for them. Sony is attempting to save some money by potentially not bringing Craig back due to the fact that the first film was a box office disappointment and they just plain don't want to pay to bring him back.
However, the other reason for this may be due to the fee writer Steve Zaillan is charging to write the script for The Girl Who Played with Fire. If you add in potential re-writes if they cut out Blomkqvist that will tack on additional money for Zaillan which could go higher than the pay increase Craig is now demanding. It sounds to me that each way Sony is screwed.

But, of course, Daniel Craig's representative is denying the salary demand and claims they have not even entered negotiations for a second film. There also is question as to if David Fincher will even return. The Girl Who Played with Fire is kinda going out on a loop right now, I think.