News of the latest Tomb Raider movie has emerged recently, set to star Alicia Vikander, and it isn't good for those waiting for its release.
Vikander helped relaunch the franchise with her appearance in the 2018 film Tomb Raider a film we described as 'fine', which in video game adaption terms means one of the best we've seen. However, it now seems we may not get to see if a sequel can improve upon that, certainly not straight away.
The problem begins with the recent Amazon buyout of MGM, which Indie Wire reports cost $8.5bn. The purchase came with many movie licenses, including Creed, James Bond and the Tomb Raider franchise. Misha Green was on board to write and direct the project, but it seems the Amazon move has put things on hold, for now at least.
"With the MGM and Amazon buyout, I have no clue. Now it's kind of politics," Vikander explained of the film's timeline. "I think Misha and I have been ready, so it's kind of in somebody else's hands, to be honest. I've been excited to show the world. I love what she's done with Lovecraft Country."
Earlier this year, Green put out a social media post suggesting the script had been delivered, but that's as far as the project has gone. She's also writing the DC Comics movie Black Canary, which fans are eager to see.
The news will be a huge disappointment to fans of the franchise, which has grown significantly over the past 26 years. The original game launched in 1996 for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn and immediately created a video game icon. Lara Croft has since starred in 19 different video games, and they're just the tip of the iceberg. Her likeness is evident in the Foxy Bingo online slot Tomb Raider, demonstrating how the character branches out into other genres. On iOS and Android, fans can also get Lara Croft: Relic Run, another genre of game straying from her original exploration mantra. In addition, there have been films starring Angelina Jolie and the first from Vikander. There is even a Lara Croft action figure, retailing at $130, which fans ensured sold out within hours.
That underlines the thirst for the sequel, but those eager Lara Croft fans will have to wait. The film was originally teased in 2019, with Warner Bros and MGM happy with the $300m grossed from the first effort, despite middling reviews. Ben Wheatley was on board to direct, and a March 2021 release was touted. However, the pandemic hit and Wheatley stepped away from the project, pushing that date out.
There are only a handful of certainties around the film when it is eventually released. The award-winning actress Vikander will reprise her role as the heroine, with Kristin Scott Thomas also widely expected to reprise her role from the first movie. Misha Green is certainly on board for writing and directing, but that is as much as we know. Hopefully, the current situation with amazon will be resolved, and we can move forward with a video game adaption that is fine, or better, satisfying fans of crossover films.