The Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Resident Evil movie franchises kicked off fairly close together in the early 2000s, kicking off a trend that saw action flicks led by female heroines really taking the spotlight. That led to a number of lesser quality attempts, such as Aeon Flux and Ultraviolet, but with the exception of Underworld, none were able to top the original two, led by butt-kickers Angelina Jolie and Milla Jojovich. But now more than a decade later, we're seeing one of those series coming to a close, while the other is being reborn.
Today sees the release of the Tomb Raider game, which obviously has led to a number of questions about the status of the long-developing film reboot. We know Jolie won't be back in the role, and last I recall Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus (Iron Man) had been hired to work on the script, which would have been an origin story of sorts. Crystal Dynamics head honcho Darrell Gallagher spoke to Variety about the film, and had this to say....
"They are working from this new take that we’ve given them. It’s a good partnership. We’re seeing the challenges through the same lens. It was important for both of us to have a cohesive version of the franchise. We didn’t want to see a film version that was a continuation of the old Tomb Raider films."
I've heard great things about the new game, and may even blow my GameSpot gift cards on it later. We'll see. The important thing is locking down who will play Lara Croft. I've previously expressed my support for Emily Browning, and continue to agree with myself on that.
