Tomb Raider film: “I have no idea” about the sequel

A second Tomb Raider movie starring Alicia Vikander is in the offing. The Swedish actress has now confirmed this herself. A prequel to the 2018 film was actually planned, but a lot has changed since then. The brand was sold by Square Enix and its studios to the Embracer Group and the studio MGM – financier and distributor in the USA – is now part of the Amazon empire. Vikander has “no idea” about the sequel and explains: “With the acquisition of MGM and Amazon … it’s a kind of politics”.

Apparently, the people involved are also ready for the shoot, but the management doesn’t seem to be sure. “I think Misha [Green, der derzeit als Autor und Regisseur an dem Projekt beteiligt ist] and I are ready, so it’s kind of in someone else’s hands, to be honest.” In terms of content, the films were originally intended to tie into the game series; the 2018 film is roughly based on the 2013 game – man wants to document the development of Lara Croft to the grave robber icon.

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Exactly why there is no green light can only be speculated. Filmed in 2017 and released in 2018, the Tomb Raider film wasn’t exactly a crowd puller. Vote aggregation portals tend to count him as average and the new hosts will probably have brought the calculators with them. It is officially said that the film “only” grossed around 275 million US dollars worldwide with an estimated budget of approx. 94 million US dollars plus marketing. MGM confirmed there was a profit left, but Hollywood is used to other margins. Especially since Tomb Raider didn’t have very strong competition when it was released theatrically either.

2019 started to hire staff for production; a rotation window is planned for April 2020. Then came COVID-19, which made the planned international filming locations unavailable, new writers and the takeover. So it is uncertain how the films will continue. Warner Bros., who handle international sales for MGM, will certainly also want to have a say.

The game series starring British actress Camilla Luddington is getting what one would expect a soft reboot under a new flag. While the storyline established since the last reboot will be retained, Crytsal Dynamics is changing the engine and has also brought new staff on board who should give the series a new direction. In any case, the Embracer Group wants to bring in its investment and sees “great potential” in the brand – including remakes of old games. With the film and series adaptations, however, you have to live with the course already set by Square Enix, such as the film rights sold to GK Films in 2011 and the animated series on Netflix.

Source: Entertainment Weekly