There are many things we want out of this one wild and precious life, and one of those things is a ‘Tomb Raider’ movie that isn’t garbage. It should be simple enough: an action-adventure film in the vein of Indiana Jones with a kickass woman hunting for treasure and fighting off bad guys. And yet, we still haven’t gotten a genuinely good Tomb Raider movie after three attempts and millions of dollars spent. Despite this, Hollywood continues to return to the Tomb Raider well, hoping to make a film that delivers on the promise of the premise. Last year, it was reported that Misha Green (Lovecraft Country) would write and direct a Tomb Raider sequel to the 2018 reboot. Since then, we haven’t heard much from the project, and Green has secured another high profile gig writing the Black Canary spinoff film for Jurnee Smollett, who will reprise her role from Birds of Prey.
So what’s the status on that Tomb Raider sequel? Star Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl, Ex Machina) discussed the sequel’s fate during her press tour for the HBO Max series Irma Vep. “With the MGM and Amazon buyout, I have no clue. Now it’s kind of politics,” Vikander told Entertainment Weekly. referencing Amazon’s multi-billion-dollar acquisition of MGM earlier this year. “I think Misha and I have been ready, so it’s kind of in somebody else’s hands, to be honest.” In addition to the merger, the sequel was also delayed due to the pandemic.
“I hope we go and make another movie. Because of the pandemic, we had plans of shooting this film, and now it’s been one and a half years, but Misha Green is on board, and she’s writing a draft right now,” Vikander said. “It’s pretty amazing — we’re, like, the same age! I was like, ‘Oh, I’m just now on a Zoom with an extremely talented woman that I think has done some incredible work.’ It would be so amazing if we get to go and do this very big-ass film together, going to kick some ass in front of the camera and behind the camera, you know?”
A woman (finally!) helming a Tomb Raider film is an exciting proposition, especially one with Green’s talent and vision. So much of the struggle of the franchise has been the objectification of Croft as a character, and male storytellers failing to capture Croft’s humanity.
The first attempt at adapting the video game was 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, which saw superstar Angelina Jolie take on the title role. While Jolie was great casting (and certainly seemed to be having fun) a muddled plot and terrible CGI tanked the film. While a box office success, Tomb Raider earned a meager 20 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The film made enough money to merit a sequel, 2003’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life, which was slightly more entertaining, and has enough campy moments to justify its existence.
Fans were excited when a Tomb Raider reboot was announced, starring Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander. The new film promised a more grounded Tomb Raider, a departure from Jolie’s glossy adventures. And while the film improved on its predecessors, it still received mixed reviews and an underwhelming box office debut. While the film was grittier, it lacked a sense of fun or humor, making it a serviceable but unmemorable experience.
Will Green and Vikander be able to break the Tomb Raider curse and deliver a film that is both feminist AND fun? We may be waiting quite a while to see.
(via Entertainment Weekly, featured image: Ilze Kitshoff/Warner Bros. Pictures)
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