The Tomb Raider video game has been a major hit for two decades now, sprouting up many acclaimed sequels as well as two films starring Angelina Jolie. And while the films did not receive the best reception during their time in the sun, the franchise is long from being yesterday’s news. Over recent years, there have been rumors of a possible reboot being in development. No official announcements were ever made, putting major speculation in fans’ minds. But a few months ago, it was announced that there would be reboot/revamp of Tomb Raider, with Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) attached to star as Lara Croft.
It’s still unclear at this point how much of the story will be taken from the game series. Jolie’s films didn’t explore the source material as well as they could have, so hopefully this new project will present the series in a fresh light. Vikander has already shown great excitement for the role, revealing that she was not only familiar with games already, but was also overjoyed in getting the opportunity to explore the character’s origins. During an interview with Collider for her upcoming film The Light Between Oceans, Vikander discussed her ideas and opinions about entering a big franchise like Tomb Raider.
With these big films… for me it’s really all about the filmmaker, and then of course the character and the story. I find that — big blockbuster movies, I grew up with, and… I think the thrill of being part of making one myself would be extraordinary. But it also comes down to, I met Roar and I’d seen The Wave and a few of his other Norwegian films and it’s with the kind of chance to make this story now, based on the rebooted game which is more of an origin story.
You could intervene hopefully a great story and a great arc and then within that, have a very entertaining adventure film, which I loved growing up. And I played the game when I was a kid [laughs]. It was really the real first protagonist I had seen in a video game at that point. And of course Angelina Jolie made her into an icon. So it’s cool to try to step into the shoes and we’re hoping to make something that will hopefully will be fresh and new.
As with many video game adaptations, there are truly endless possibilities about how the film could be constructed. But of course, the very unsuccessful history for video game movies such as Warcraft and Prince of Persia could lead to some heavy cynicism. The upcoming Assassin’s Creed film could very well change those negative mindsets, which could lead to studios making sure video game projects like Tomb Raider get proper results.
Tomb Raider opens in theaters on March 16, 2018.
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