In 2013, Square Enix rebooted the Tomb Raider franchise. The game follows the young recent archaeological graduate Lara Croft after she was shipwrecked on the fictional island of Yamatai off the coast of Japan. Yamatai itself was home to the Sun Queen who was rumored to possess shamanistic powers. The game flowed like a film following Lara as she had to fight against a criminal cult who worshiped the Sun Queen in order for her and her friends to survive. It was an incredible adventure that was able to force Lara to discover the courage within. Players experienced Lara as she had no choice but to forge herself into the heroic archaeologist we know as the Tomb Raider. At the end — after experiencing the supernatural herself — Lara was filled with regret having doubted the mythical stories her now deceased father once told her as a child.
A feature film reboot of the franchise is currently in development at Warner Bros. with Roar Uthaugh (The Wave) attached to direct and oscar winner Alicia Vikander set to star. While promoting the upcoming film Allied, producer Graham King — who is also producing the Tomb Raider feature — revealed to Hey U Guys that the plot of new reboot, like the 2013 game, will be an origin story.
“Well this is kind of what we call a ‘back to the roots story’. This is a young Lara Croft in search to see if her father is dead or alive, so it has a very emotional part to it and i think that’s what Alicia found so interesting about it. I think the storytelling is really good and i think we’ve got the right crew and a great director and I think it’s going to be really fun making a film like this”.
While the film doesn’t sound like a straight adaptation of the game, an origin story for Lara presents an opportunity for a powerful and compelling adventure that could make for a smash hit with Vikander starring as Croft.
Tomb Raider is slated to hit theaters March 16, 2018.
Alternate World 