Alicia Vikander has been booted out as Lara Croft. MGM, the producers of the Tomb Raider movie franchise, have bundled their attempts to make a sequel to the 2018 Tomb Raider in time, which has caused the rights to now go “up to auction” with many studios in the hunt.
This is a great shame. The 2018 Tomb Raider movie may not have been very good, but Alicia Vikander as Laura Croft was. Alicia Vikander’s acting and performance was not the reason why Tomb Raider bombed at the box office back in 2018. It was because of the script and directing.
I don’t know what MGM was thinking by giving the such a massive responsibility to the unrenowned (so far) Roar Uthaug (director), Alastair Siddons (screenplay writer), and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (screenplay writer). MGM needed a massive hit following Angelenia Jolie’s cult classic Lara Croft films, not a directionless, boring mess that was 2018 Tomb Raider.
I’m not trying to be a jerk, but there was (and still has not) been anything in Uthaug, Siddons, or Robertson-Dworet’s IMDb credits that justified MGM’s decision of placing them in charge of such a beloved franchise. This was a horrible mistake by MGM, which has cost them greatly as they now have been bought out by Amazon.
Even worse, the first movie did so poorly at the box office that the studio was unable to assemble a cohesive script, cast, direction, and production in time before the franchise’s rights expired. What a mess that studio made of Lara Croft.
And what a mess MGM made of Alicia Vikander’s Lara. The Swedish actress deserved another opportunity to continue Croft’s legacy, though now that has been taken from her.
(Warner Bros. Pictures-Tomb Raider-Official Trailer #1)
Sadly, there is no point in complaining about Vikander’s firing now. With the rights of the Lara Croft movie franchise rights up in the air, there’s no telling which direction the movies will go in. Perhaps Disney will buy the rights, establishing yet another uber-successful film universe.
Or maybe Universal or Paramount or Sony will buy the rights to launch their own billion-dollar universes. Who knows?
Yet, what we all do know is that Lara Croft will have a new lead to bring the young, adventurous tomb raider to life. I could see Florence Pugh take a break from Yelena Belova to take on the being the English tomb raider.
If Sydney Sweetney’s Cassie Howard graduates from East Highland High with a bunch of archeology electives, she can become Lara Croft. Eh, that made a lot more sense in my head before I wrote it. But I still think Sweetney would also do a great job. And Zendaya, for that matter.
Anyway, even though there is nothing anyone can do about it, I still feel bad for Alicia Vikander. Her unique take on a famous, beloved character was a joy to watch, even if her surrounding elements weren’t that great.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Warner Bros. Pictures) (TOMB RAIDER – Official Trailer #1 – YouTube)
In Text Image 1: (Warner Bros. Pictures (TOMB RAIDER – Official Trailer #1 – YouTube)
