Following the recent success of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, all three films from Swedish author Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy will now be released theatrically.

The decision was announced by the project's main financier, Swedish public broadcaster SVT.

Danish director Niels Arden Oplev's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is based on the first book of the trilogy and is on track to become the most succesful Scandinavian film ever.

In its third week it has seen 1.26 million admissions and taken almost $17m in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The most succesful Scandinavian film to date is Arn The Knight Templar, which grossed $20.6m worldwide.

Originally the trilogy was produced as a six-part television series, with only The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo also edited for a cinema release.

SVT head of drama and executive producer Gunnar Carlsson explained the decision,'We have thoroughly considered this move, but to continuously secure the positive development of local films they need strong admission figures, and everybody who can contribute to this has a responsibility,' said Carlsson.

Carlsson added that the views of the Swedish Film Institute and reports of a possible weak year for Swedish cinema were a factor in the decision.

The second and third parts of the series - The Girl Who Played With The Fire (Flickan Som Lekte Med Elden) and The Air Castle That Blew Up (Luftslottet Som Sprängdes) - will be launched theatrically in autumn 2009. Both were directed by Sweden's Daniel Alfredson.

'SVT will air the television films starting February 2010. They will have their own lives, since they contain much more material than the theatrical features,' added Carlsson.

SVT backed the production with Germany's ZDF Enterprises. It isa Nordisk Film release in Scandinavia, produced by Sweden's Yellow Bird, a part of Zodiak Entertainment. Foreign sales for Zodiak Entertainment Distribution include France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain and Poland.

The three action thrillers star Swedish actors Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace as investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his partner, the dysfunctional IT hacker Lisbeth Salander respectively.

The books, which were all published after Larsson's death, have sold 10 million copies worldwide.

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