We have been reporting for a couple weeks now on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo star Noomi Rapace's entry into Hollywood.  She's taken quite a few meetings, for such projects as the Mission: Impossible reboot, James McTiegue's period thriller The Raven, a "juicy villain role" in McG's This Means War.  And while Jeremy Renner alleged Rapace would be his co-star in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (should he sign on), the Swedish actress has chosen the vehicle for her English-language debut: Sherlock Holmes 2.  Details after the jump.

Heat Vision reports that Rapace has landed the female lead in the  Sherlock sequel, rumored to be a French Gypsy.  The plot, like the nature of Rapace's role, is at this time a Warner Bros. secret.  It is known that Holmes' archnemesis, Moriarty, will have a presence, with Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Penn, Javier Bardem, and Gary Oldman rumored for the role.  Sherlock's brother Mycroft will likewise make an appearance.

Rapace's casting confirms that Rachel McAdams is no longer the leading lady of the franchise, but as producer Joel Silver indicated, she will be "present" as Irene Adler.  I haven't seen Dragon Tattoo, but clearly her performance impressed the right people.  We'll see if she make the Cotillardian transition into big budget American films when Sherlock Holmes hits theaters on December 16, 2011.