There are two actors in the running to play Lara Croft in a new Tomb Raider reboot.
Soon after Alicia Vikander said she is “sad” she won’t return as the video game character, a brand new project focused on Croft is moving ahead at Prime Video, producer by Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge as part of her $20m-a-year deal (£15m) with Amazon.
Vikander played Croft in the latest Tomb Raider adaptation, which was released in 2018. It was a reboot of the franchise that starred Angelina Jolie in the early 2000s.
The film received middling reviews from critics, and it earned a lacklustre $275m (£228m) at the global box office, but Vikander received a large amount of praise for the role – so much so that a sequel was on the horizon with the Swedish star set to return.
However, when MGM lost the rights to Tomb Raider, the project disintegrated, meaning a confused Vikander suddenly lost the chance to return as Croft.
It seems she might be handing over the baton to either Sophie Turner, best known as Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones, or Lucy Boynton, whose credits include Sing Street and Bohemian Rhapsody. According to Deadline, these are just two of the stars on producers’s wish list that will be screen testing.
The outlet claims that Emma Corrin and Mackenzie Davis, two other stars reportedly featured on the wish list, will not be screen testing for the role.
The Independent has contacted Amazon for comment.
This latest update on the Tomb Raider reboot comes after Vikander told The Independent she would have “of course” returned for a sequel should the film have moved forward, adding: “I had so much fun.”
The series is of particular interest considering it’s from Waller-Bridge, who signed a $20m-a-year deal with Amazon in 2019.
Waller-Bridge said she was “insanely excited” to get cracking, with Head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke adding: “She is clever, brilliant, generous and a virtuoso on multiple fronts including writing, acting and producing”.
However, the star is yet to have produced a hit, with her involvement in Donald Glover’sMr and Mrs Smith, a series based on the 2005 movie starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, falling through due to creative clashes.
The series, which ended up starring Maya Erskine alongside Glover, was a hit for the streaming service
In 2023, Amazon Studios rejected claims questioning Waller-Bridge’s salary, with the company’s head of television, Vernon Sanders, telling The Hollywood Reporter that the writer is “feeling very committed” to Tomb Raider, adding: “When she does deliver, she delivers.”
