MGM loses film rights to Tomb Raider, starting fierce bidding war in Hollywood
The Tomb Raider film franchise seemingly needs a new home, and many prospects are lining up.
According to The Wrap, MGM has lost the movie rights to Tomb Raider after failing to begin production on another movie by May 2022. As such, several high-profile movie studios are bidding to acquire the franchise, though no deals have closed yet. For the time being, rights have returned to producer Graham King’s GK Films.
Insiders also claim that Alicia Vikander, who played protagonist Lara Croft in the 2018 movie, will not be returning to the series. Instead, any future Tomb Raider film will be a complete reboot. However, no director or casting information is available at this time.
Tomb Raider, the sort-lived franchise relaunch from 2018, made roughly $275 million at the global box office during its theatrical run. Surprisingly, that’s slightly better than the original Angelina Jolie film, which brought in $274 million worldwide back in the day.
Where the movies go from here is anybody’s guess. Several months ago, developer Crystal Dynamics announced that it is working on another Tomb Raider video game. Publisher Square Enix recently sold the series to Embracer Group as part of a $300 million deal, which left fans pretty upset.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.