Now that MGM has lost the rights to the Tomb Raider franchise (and star Alicia Vikander), fans have lots of questions about the future of Lara Croft. Will another studio pick up the rights? Who would play Lara Croft next? And most importantly, is it possible to make a Tomb Raider film that doesn’t, you know, suck? Last Night in Soho director Edgar Wright weighed in on the topic with some fancasting of his own, suggesting that Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation, Ingrid Goes West) play the intrepid archeologist. Wright, who worked with Plaza on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, was inspired after seeing Plaza on the cover of Movie Maker Magazine, where she bears a striking resemblance to Croft.
Plaza shared the story during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, where she said “My friend Edgar Wright actually saw that and texted me and said, ‘Oh my god, you’re the new Lara Croft? You’re the new Tomb Raider?’ That’s the character in Tomb Raider, … And I was like, ‘No, Edgar. That’s my movie, Emily The Criminal.’ And he genuinely thought I was cast as the new Tomb Raider.”
Plaza added “And then I looked it up and they are actually casting this role right now and I was like, ‘There you go. The new Tomb Raider. Whatever.” Plaza later told Newsweek, “Look, I have no idea what the future holds for me, but I love it, … It was so funny when he texted me that because I didn’t realize how strikingly similar those photos are. Emily is carrying a purse strap and Lara Croft has a gun holster, those are very different. But it’s very weird and totally accidental, but I’ll take it.”
Plaza added, “I love action movies, and I don’t discriminate against big movies or small movies. I love all kinds of movies. I would love it if somehow that turned into a real thing, but who knows, I have no idea. That’s an iconic character. She’s the original badass.”
Plaza as Croft? We’re not not into it. Plaza broke onto the scene as the surly and sarcastic April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation, and has gone on to star in FX’s Legion and will next appear in Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. Will Aubrey Plaza be our next unlikely action hero? We don’t see any reason why not.
(featured image: Roadside Attractions)
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