It feels like a project that’s been years – dare I say “too many years” – in the making but the long-awaited reboot of the Tomb Raider movie franchise is finally picking up steam!
Back in April, we learnt that Swedish actress Alicia Vikander won the coveted lead role and now it seems we have a release date for the as-yet untitled film: March 16, 2018.
Further details about the cast and synopsis will be no doubt surface as the film nears completion but here’s what we know about the film so far:
NOTE: This list will no longer be updated. You can find more articles about the upcoming film over here.
- MGM & Warner Bros are co-producing the film with Graham King serving as producer. A summary of the “development hell” this film has gone through can be found over here.
- The film will be directed by Norwegian director Roar Uthuag, whose credits include the 2015 disaster drama The Wave and the 2012 survival tale Escape.
- Alicia Vikander has signed on to play Lara Croft. Vikander is best known for her performance in the 2015 sci-fi thriller Ex Machina and for her Oscar-winning performance in The Danish Girl.
- The film is scheduled to be released on March 16, 2018.
- The script is being written by Geneva Robertson-Dworet, who has worked on Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) and won a place on the 2012 Black List for her screenplay, Hibernation. Writers that were previously attached to this project include Marti Noxon and Evan Daugherty.
- The film isn’t thought to be a simple live-action adaptation of the 2013 game but will take a similar approach in establishing a younger, more relatable Lara Croft.
- During his interview with HeyUGuys in late November 2016, producer Graham King confirmed that the new film will be a “back to the roots story” and that this younger Lara Croft will be searching for her lost (possibly dead) father.
- As of December 2016, actor Walton Goggins was in final negotiations to join the film, where he will play the as yet unnamed villain.
- On January 3, 2017, Walton Goggins posted a sneak-peak at the cover page for the (presumably) finished script on his Instagram account. Several fans have commented on the similarity between the hat in the photo and that donned by Von Croy in the Core Design games but the name of Goggins’ character has yet to be revealed.
- On January 11, 2017, Variety reported that Chinese-American actor Daniel Wu had joined the cast of the new film. Wu will be playing Lu Ren, a ship captain that partners with Lara Croft on her quest to find her lost father.
- Filming officially began on January 23, 2017. A photo of the clapperboard can be found on director Roar Uthaug’s Instagram account.

Updates and amendments to this list will be made as new details about the film come to light.
Last updated on: February 6, 2017. This list will no longer be updated.
Please click here for more Tomb Raider (2018) news!
Related Articles:
I’m having mixed feelings with Alicia playing Lara! I can’t quite put my finger on it. ^^
Can’t seem to edit my comment, but I just wanted to add that going the same route as the 2013 Tomb Raider game went is a good step!
Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve only seen her in Ex Machina and while she did a good job (the film was overhyped in my opinion), I’m not sure how convincing she’ll be in an action role.
Then again, I had similar misgivings about Angelina Jolie when she was first announced so I’ll reserve judgement for now. 😉
They could just bring Angelina back. Buuuut we should give other actors a chance ^^ so I’ll wait until the teaser to give my judgement.
Angelina already turned down the offer to be in a third film quite a few years ago. 😉
Ah well. I’m sure Alicia will do a good job. I’m more interested on where it’ll take place and what the story is going to be 🙂