It's that time again; we have another reboot with subsequent casting decisions on the way, thanks Hollywood! The TOMB RAIDER franchise is getting the treatment this time around, which has already spawned two movies based on the popular video game series starring Angelina Jolie. In all honestly, I never felt these movies knew how to handle the material, so after two missed opportunities in this gamers/watcher of movies opinion, I’m not at all surprised we’re going back to the drawing board.
We reported that Warner Bros. has hired a writer to pen the script for a reboot which will focus on a younger version of the adventurous archaeologist Lara Croft. It’s pretty much going to be like the rebooted video game that came out not too long ago, which has a better looking sequel coming out next month. We know that Jolie won’t be back in the role (but would make a great director I believe), so who would be a good fit for playing a young Lara Croft?
The character of Croft is known worldwide for a lot of reasons, but mainly because she took the gaming world by delighted surprise in 1996 with her Barbie-like looks and extreme hobbies which included fighting wild animals. The British brunette has gone through a lot of changes over the generations of gaming, but her beauty, intelligence, and survival skills have remained intact.
The new movie will no doubt want to make fanboys happy while at the same time, introduce TOMB RAIDER to a wider audience who would enjoy a good adventure story. The female-led action movies of today are mainly your Young Adult novel adaptations (Hunger Games, Divergent); it would be nice to see something with some more substance, something raw and gritty; I trust the recognizable Lara Croft could lead the charge.
Now the question is which actress could replace Angelina Jolie in the role? This column is more of a wish list, and doesn’t have to adhere to the actual chance of your choice landing the role. What I mean is that while it might help narrow down the field for possible leading ladies by ruling out actresses previously rumored for the part (Hayley Atwell, Olivia Wilde), you really don’t have to. I’m easy going that way.
So let’s start with Felicity Jones! Coming off of her recent Oscar nomination, she is a candidate that comes to mind quickly. Her next big role that a lot of us will be paying attention to comes in the form of a Star Wars movie, ROGUE ONE. That’s a big mainstream movie and she could continue and strengthen that mainstream buzz with work on TOMB RAIDER. Margot Robbie, who basically comes to my mind when casting ANYTHING these days, would be well-suited for the muscle shirt and sweaty forehead I think. She turned 25 this year and has already stared in big movies like THE WOLF OF WALL STREET and FOCUS – while she has the upcoming SUICIDE SQUAD and TARZAN going on too. This could put her over the top and give her a franchise to run with which I think she would handle perfectly. My final choice would be Emily Blunt, a no-brainer choice if you ask me. She showed off her action chops alongside Tom Cruise in EDGE OF TOMORROW last year and then this year showed that she can lead a movie with SICARIO. She’s easily one of the best actresses working today and yet I feel she’s underrated. Check out her filmography and you will see that the range she has shown over the last decade is damn impressive.
Those are my choices however, so what about yours? Would you be going younger or older for your casting choices? What about changing up the role to someone of color, like the always great Zoe Saldana? Someone who can break out with a needed action role like Lily James? You could get really meta and bring on Camilla Luddington, who supplied the vocal and motion performances in the most recent Tomb Raider video game. She’s got the look down! Then there are the actresses who are no strangers to action: Hayley Atwell, Gemma Arterton, Summer Glau, and Lynn Collins.
With so many great choices I can’t imagine this will be easy for any of you; so who wold you like to see venture into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world?
RESULTS FROM CAST THIS: WOLVERINE – 1. Antony Starr, 2. Kit Harington, 3. Scott Eastwood