Lara Croft, the heroine of the Tomb Raider video game franchise, has had devoted following since her debut in 1996. As the name suggests, she’s an adventurer and archaeologist, a sort of aristocratic Indiana Jones. In 2001, Croft hit the big screen with Lara Craft: Tomb Raider, starring Angelina Jolie in the titular role. The film was a box office smash and a sequel, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, followed in 2003. Both films, although hardly critical darlings, have garnered a cult following.
Rumors of a new Tomb Raider film have circulated since Jolie left the series, but when the video game was rebooted in 2013 with a darker, edgier entry, GK Films, Warner Bros., and MGM seized the opportunity to revitalize the film franchise. The first trailer forgoes cheesy over-the-top action in exchange for grounded survival story (with a dash of death-defying stunts and one-liners for good measure). Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander of Ex Machina and Tulip Fever replaced Jolie, and she’s the spitting image of the video game heroine. Walton Goggins, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, and Hannah John-Kamen co-star.
The film was directed by Norwegian filmmaker Roar Uthaug, who previously helmed the thrillers Cold Prey and The Wave. Tomb Raider is set for a March 2018 release, and it’s currently unclear if the final film will be rated R (recent entries in the video game franchise have been rated the video game equivalent of R, M for Mature).
Here’s to hoping that Jolie has a cameo.
Watch the trailer below.
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