Last week we discovered that MGM lost the movie rights to Tomb Raider because it failed to approve the production of a new film, a sequel to the 2018 adaptation, in time . As a result, an auction is now underway between several Hollywood studios to grab the franchise, and Embracer – the company that acquired Crystal Dynamics – is considering bids with Graham King ‘s GK Films , which represents the intellectual property.
Well, The Wrap sheds more light on what happened, and explains the reasons behind the failure of the initial project. The film was in the hands of Misha Green (creator of Lovecraft Country ) as screenwriter and director, following the departure of Ben Wheatley . If the latter wanted to make “a traditional action movie,” Green had bigger ambitions instead, and this is where the problems began. The Californian director’s vision required a higher budget, and it also seems that Green and Alicia Vikander disagreed on the script.
The delays were also caused by this: the actress and the screenwriter were talking about their differences when the fateful date of May 1st arrived, the last day available to start production. MGM asked Square Enix – owner of the saga before the move to Embracer – to give it more time, but “the patience [of the Japanese company] was over,” so the studio lost the rights.
Netflix , Warner Bros. and Amazon – among others – would be vying to acquire them. In any case, Alicia Vikander is no longer part of the games: the future reboot, in short, will not see her protagonist.
We will keep you posted.
Tomb Raider in the cinema
Released in 2018, the film starring Alicia Vikander grossed nearly $ 275 million worldwide. The first two adaptations, starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft , came out in 2001 and 2003, earning a combined $ 432 million at the worldwide box office.