Alicia Vikander has been cast today as Lara Croft for MGM, Warner Bros and GK Films in Tomb Raider. The reboot will tell the story of a young and untested Lara Croft fighting to survive her first adventure. Roar Uthaug (The Wave) is directing. MGM and Warner Bros are co-producing the film with MGM overseeing production. They acquired film rights from GK Films, which had previously purchased film rights in 2011 from Square Enix LTD. Graham King is serving as producer.
This is the latest plum role for Vikander, and arguably her highest-profile one yet. She next co-stars in Jason Bourne opposite Matt Damon. Her success continues to rise following a successful 2015 that saw her performance in Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl win an Academy Award for best supporting actress as well as a memorable turn in Ex Machina as possibly the best-looking and ruthless robot in the history of cinema. She also has The Light Between Oceans opposite Michael Fassbender in the pipelines. That film has been generating awards-season buzz even though it will not be released before the end of the year.
This was a role that every young actress was after with Daisy Ridley, Cara Delevigne, Emilia Clarke and Saoirse Ronan all rumored at some point. Vikander looks a strong choice for this potential franchise, given she has form with a perfect English accent. She is currently filming Submergence for Wim Wenders opposite James McAvoy.
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Lara Croft was famously played in its previous incarnation by Angelina Jolie at her most kick-ass and pneumatic.
The original Tomb Raider game was published in 1996 by the London-based video game company Eidos and went on to become one of the most successful video games of the time. Eidos (including Crystal Dynamics) is now part of Square Enix, an international interactive entertainment group.
The latest adaptation, which has been in development for several years, received a jolt of adrenaline when the video game series was rebooted with 2013’s Tomb Raider, which depicted Croft’s first adventure as an archaeology student, and follow-up Rise Of The Tomb Raider.
Vikander is repped by UTA, Tavistock Wood Management and Actors in Scandinavia.
WOW! I thought they may go younger what with Ridley being suggested and the character is young in the reboot but Vikander is awesome!
I was expecting Daisy as well.But this is out of the blue.I like AV she`s great.I even liked her in the Seventh Son,sue me lol.
A much worthier choice than Ridley, in my opinion.
She was good in Son Of A Gun. EX Machina was ok. She’s way better than Daisy Ridley.
As much as I like Alicia Vikander, Grey’s Anatomy star Camilla Luddington was the model and voice for the Lara Croft videogame reboot, so I think she should get dibs on the role. It helps that Luddington’s Grey’s character, Jo Wilson, is quite sassy/brassy, so there’s no doubt that Luddington can handle Indiana-Jones-esque dry humor — far better than Angelina Jolie ever could, IMO — while Vikander has yet to appear in anything but dramatic roles (in the English language, at least), even in an upbeat action movie like Man From UNCLE.
You sound as if you’re off in your own little world…
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Coat
Says the person who can’t say enough bad things about the MCU. Seriously, though, Cary, I’ve followed you since you were writing letters to Comics Buyers’ Guide. What’s gotten into you lately?
No. It’s the ABC TV portion of the MCU I rag on about. It’s in sync with the movies. You’ve heard me praise the Netflix series plenty of time. It’s the same format that SHIELD should be done and not watered down to appeal to the kiddies. SHIELD has and will always be an adult concept.
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Coat
Sorry. I meant not in sync with the rest of the MCU.
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Coat
Camilla is a fine actress but this movie doesn’t get financed/made with her as the lead. To suggest that because she’s great on a TV show that she can handle a tentpole film is a bit of a stretch…
Why they didn’t cast Camilla Luddington is beyond me. Like you said, she is the model and voice for Lara Croft in the recent games. She was the Obvious choice.
I completely agree. She should have been casted as Lara. Camilla Luddington would have been perfect!
Yeah, I don’t get it. She’s so perfect as Lara in the games and she looks the part exactly. She may not have as high a profile as Alicia does at the moment, but I think she has the acting chops to carry a blockbuster.
No one will give the studio $75 million for Camilla Luddington
Their problem is that while they want other people to see this movie their main marketed audience is gamers. Gamers who know and love Camilla as Lara. It’s a huge mistake to so fundamentally change the character. The mocap was so good that is showed every movement and mannerisms down a furrowed brow. Including the fact that she’ll have a completely different voice is just absolutely ridiculous. It would be like casting Lucy in Assassins Creed as anyone other then Kristen Bell. The only ONLY way this would ever work is if the story is kept separate with no content crossover. They would have to be separate Lara’s for it to be remotely believable. And to shrink the gap they are asking the gaming community to reach.
While I had personally rooted for Ridley, I am perfectly good with Vikander. Se has proven to be a wonderful actress and I have faith in her. But I sincerely hope that the filmmakers can tap into the grit, depth, intelligence and resourcefulness of the character and tell a story that does Vikander and Lara Croft justice. Without all that, the movie will sink.
I was leaning towards daisy to play Lara croft. Give her more acting experience. But Alicia will do a fine job,
Amazing they think this will turn a $$.
Maxi Mounds should be Lara Croft, otherwise I smell a flop.
She’s a great actress but this will flop. No one asked for a Lara Croft reboot. The originals were awful and forgotten for a reason.
Well, I for one haven’t forgotten them…and Angie was sensational!
Video game to movie adaptions seem to pretty much score at the box office. It’s a strong niche that gaming people and casual movie goers seem to enjoy, so it’s obviously going to be a cash grab, especially with a video game icon such as Lara Croft. Alicia is just there for legitimacy and mainstream appeal. Even with an obscure actress, it still would’ve performed well, commercial wise (see: Hitman: Agent 47).
Camilla Luddington would have be logical. She know the caractere well and have a lovely accent ! Too bad :-(
Uh, she’s lacking in one area the character is best known for.
Clearly, you haven’t seen the video game reboot.
Alicia is better than this.
Meh. Nothing I have seen of this girl has excited me yet. Ex Machina was ok, everything else, not so much. Emilia Clarke would have been a great choice. Oh well, I probably won’t see this regardless of who’s in it, as I am over the constant reboots at this point. Hollywood needs more of both original ideas and exciting actors.
Hope they don’t Hunger Game’ this franchise to death.
hunger games franchise made over a billion in profit, I think they would love that actually.
That means the exact opposite of what you think it means, Tom.
Deja Vu. This reminds me of when Charlize Theron agreed to do Aeon Flux. Everyone thought it was cool at the time until the film was released. Risky move for such a cool amazing actress like Alicia to sign on for a project like this. Hopefully it will be great and make money.
Camilla should have had the role!!!!
@Katy There’s a 3-year difference in age between Daisy and Alicia. That’s not much.
where are all the previously-outraged, diversity folks who wanted a black James Bond or an asian Iron Fist clamoring for a non-lily white Lara Croft? Were Naomi Harris or Danai Gurira or Eiza Gonzalez considered?
Nobody is clamoring for *ANY* Lara Croft. Go look for a fight in the street, racist. Thanks.
am not a racist. Sincerely think any of those actors would be a much more interesting choice than this. And, with a dead franchise, going with a person of some ethnicity would be a much more interesting way to go and would breath new life into this. I was merely pointing out the absurd hypocrisy in these comment sections (and in Hollywood). The “outrage” is almost completely selective.
There’s no way you sincerely believe someone as untalented and uncharismatic as Eiza Gonzalez would be a “more interesting choice”. What kind of messiness.
Luddington is an awful actress.Cmon guys
I like her a lot as Jo on Grey’s Anatomy. She can carry a scene with Ellen Pompeo, which goes a long way with me. And she’s in a tricky position given that she’s one of the junior actors/characters on the show, so she has to play Jo a little more broadly (to indicate Jo’s youth and inexperience compared to Meredith and Karev) than she might if she were more central to the show a la Izzie. And Luddington and her character are quite reminiscent of Katherine Heigl/Izzie. The year-long time jump after Derek’s death at the end of last season helped quite a bit, too. The cast is still a bit overstuffed with watchable characters — a great problem for any show to have, IMO — so maybe if Shonda’s high-concept pilot starring Luddington’s most consistent scene partner on Grey’s, Jerrika Hinton, gets greenlit, Luddington’s Jo will get some more drama-leaning cases-of-the-week.
I love this casting, even though I would have been cool with Daisy. But Ex Machina was amazing! I have not see The Wave yet, I need to get on that and see how good it is. I have heard its great, like a believable disaster type film.
“The Light Between Oceans” is scheduled for September 2nd. Love Alicia, this is exciting news. Hope the script delivers for her.
She`s a very decent actress but she`s so slight.Will she really be able to pull off the action/fight scenes convincingly?.
Win an Oscar. Sign up for a video game movie reboot. So sad. I want to like her so much, but I just don’t.
same Chris..
‘It’s all just a little bit of history repeating’………but hey it’s true. You hang around long enough and that’s what happens.
Vikander is OK. I can’t really say I like her that Mich in what I’ve seen of her and didn’t really think she warranted the Oscar for ‘The Danish Girl’ but it doesn’t matter. She gets a payday and a headline role.
Same. I feel like she’s gonna be everywhere soon, but she leaves me cold in everything but 1 movie. Maybe that’s why she was perfect in Ex Machina?
The big payday before the fall…
Don’t do it.
Why? Not the choice for the role but why are they making this movie? It’s not like people have been saying “hey, why is their a new Tomb Raider movie?”
I don’t see the hate here. I think Alicia will be perfect for the role in every way. And people saying it will be her fall. Really? Because for example the Batman reboots were totally crap and such a wrong move for Christian Bale? If it’s done right this can be both a great movie and a great role for Alicia Vikander. To those who thought it should go to Daisy, for me personally Daisy Ridley is the new Mark Hamill and she will be Star Wars until the trilogy is over. And Emilie Clarke? Totally wrong for the role. This is a great pick and I’m looking forward to seeing the result.