It takes a lot for a studio to give up on a franchise. Many blockbuster franchises are bulletproof to critical judgment and only live and die based on box office grosses. However, even with a subpar box office, there’s always a chance that a major studio is willing to roll the dice on an IP at least one more time, just to see what happens. And that appears to be the case with “Tomb Raider.”
According to Deadline, MGM and Warner Bros. are willing to roll the dice one more time with the recent “Tomb Raider” reboot franchise. After Angelina Jolie put Lara Croft on the Hollywood map with two films over a decade ago, Alicia Vikander stepped into the role last year, but failed to light up the box office, despite decent reviews. But alas, when you have a well-known property combined with an Oscar-winning actress, you tend to give it a second chance.
READ MORE: ‘Tomb Raider’: Featuring Action Star Alicia Vikander Is Impressively Silly [Review]
There is one bit of good news with this announcement, and that’s with the person hired to script the sequel. The report states that Amy Jump, best known for her collaborations with director/spouse Ben Wheatley, has been brought on to script the next adventure. And apparently, Vikander is impressed by what she’s seen.
As mentioned, Jump has previously written scripts for films like “High-Rise,” “Free Fire,” and “A Field in England.” Her most recent project is “Freak Shift,” which is in development now.
A “Tomb Raider” sequel is far from a guaranteed hit. Despite Vikander’s quality performance in the role and the overall increase in quality versus the previous Jolie-led iteration, last year’s film failed to excite fans at the box office, only earning just under $275 million worldwide off of a $94 million budget. (Note: as always, when discussing box office, it’s important to know that to turn a profit on a film, a studio would have to look at the total cost, which is budget plus marketing, and earn DOUBLE that in ticket sales, as the theaters take roughly half). Domestically, the film only earned $58 million, showing that international play is the big driving force here.
Perhaps with a lower budget and a more action-focused, four-quadrant adventure, “Tomb Raider” can rule the box office in the future? We’ll find out soon enough.