Over the past few months there has been a fair amount of talk surrounding the impending Tomb Raider movie reboot, and who will be taking the lead role. While Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Daisy Ridley has been rumoured of late, we can confirm that she won’t be the person to follow in the footsteps of Angelina Jolie. Nope, the identity of the new Lara Croft has been confirmed as none other than Alicia Vikander.
The star of films as varied as Ex Machina, Seventh Son, The Man From UNCLE and The Danish Girl (and soon to be seen in Jason Bourne), Vikander will portray a different version of the character to the one seen on the big screen thus far, with The Hollywood Reporter confirming that it “will tell the story of a young and untested Croft fighting to survive her first adventure.” With this in mind, it seems the film will hew closer to the version of the character seen in 2013’s Tomb Raider and 2015’s Rise Of The Tomb Raider – ie a younger and less experienced but nonetheless still formidable Lara.
It’s quite a casting coup, and one that we’re surprised has been pulled off, in all honesty. Vikander has been excellent in pretty much everything she’s been in, and while Tomb Raider wasn’t the series we expected to be her first as a solo lead, it’s good to see her get more exposure nonetheless.
Roar Uthaug will direct the new take on the series, working from a script penned by Evan Daugherty (Snow White And The Huntsman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Transformers 5), with Graham King serving as producer.
A release date for Tomb Raider is yet to be announced. For more news about the biggest movies, pick up the new issue of SciFiNow.
