Bad News for ‘Tomb Raider’ Sequel with Alicia Vikander
Alicia Vikander‘s aspirations to reprise her role as Lara Croft were dashed by the news. The movie rights to the video game have been lost, sparking a bidding war in Hollywood for the property. Unfortunately, this means that the next Tomb Raider film featuring Vikander will not be getting a sequel since a new studio would want to start fresh with a new Tomb Raider.
MGM had until May to finally greenlight a Tomb Raider sequel, but the studio never did, The Wrap reported Thursday. Multiple Hollywood studios were interested in the property and made bids, sources told the outlet.
Another source told The Hollywood Reporter the bidding war was a “feeding frenzy” as studios and streamers compete for more known intellectual properties for their content.
The movie rights for the video game “Final Fantasy” reverted back to Square Enix and Graham King’s GK Films. King acquired the screen rights from Square Enix in 2011, and he later partnered with MGM to co-produce a movie. However, this partnership only resulted in the 2018 movie, which grossed $275 million internationally.
For years, Vikander has been discussing the possibility of making a Tomb Raider sequel. However, in her most recent remarks on the subject, she told Entertainment Weekly her Tomb Raider 2 was in limbo after Amazon bought MGM. “With the MGM and Amazon buyout, I have no clue. Now it’s kind of politics,” she said earlier this month.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the Tomb Raider sequel was set to be written and directed by Misha Green. Actress Vikander told EW that she was “excited to show the world” what Green did with Lara Croft. Unfortunately, the world will never see Green’s vision.
The first Tomb Raider game was released to multiple consoles in 1996. Angelina Jolie played the character in two films released by Paramount, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003). The Jolie movies made a combined $423 million worldwide.
Although Vikander will not play Lara Croft again, she is still doing well. Vikander has also starred in other movies like Irma Vep series and The Green Knight. Her next project is Firebrand, a historical drama about King Henry VIII and Catherine Parr’s marriage.
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