It has been decided not to move forward with the Tomb Raider movie sequel featuring Alicia Vikander as the video game legend Lara Croft. MGM did not give the go-ahead for the production of a sequel to the reboot that was released in 2018; the film was supposed to be directed by Lovecraft Country’s Misha Green, but Ben Wheatley of Free Fire abandoned the project before the May deadline.
That implies that the studio no longer has the right to make a cinematic adaptation of Tomb Raider, as reported by The Wrap (opens in a new tab), and Alicia Vikander has also left the franchise. Reportedly, a “full relaunch” is currently in the works, and a number of film companies are getting ready to engage in a frenetic bidding war for the rights to the successful series. Tomb Raider was originally released for the PlayStation in 1996 and has since spawned a plethora of sequels and spinoffs.
The video game was adapted for the first time for the big screen in 2001 in an action film starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. In 2003, a sequel titled The Cradle of Life was also published, and it was met with a generally negative reaction. There has been no announcement regarding a director, writers, or actors associated with any prospective relaunch. Whoever wins the rights to Tomb Raider, however, will be buoyed by the recent success of video game adaptations: Uncharted (starring Tom Holland) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 both grossed over $400 million at the worldwide box office.
Whoever wins the rights to Tomb Raider, however, will be buoyed by the recent success of video game adaptations. There are no official announcements on the future of the Tomb Raider animated series that will air on Netflix and star Hayley Atwell. The future of Tomb Raider in video games is likewise in equally unexplored territory, but one that is bright. The intellectual property rights to the Tomb Raider video game were recently acquired by Embracer Group as part of a $300 million transaction that also included the incorporation of the game’s developers, Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montreal.