The sequel to 2018's Tomb Raider reboot has seen its fair share of delays, thanks mostly to the COVID-19 pandemic but actress and star, Alicia Vikander, is hopeful that she'll be able to reprise the role of Lara Croft very soon.
During a chat with ComicBook.com, Vikander was aware that the current circumstances with the global pandemic put the already greenlit sequel in limbo but she promised that a script is coming soon and she's excited to give it a read:
"[Writer/director] Misha [Green] is about to … A script is coming in very soon. She's extremely hardworking. And so, I can't say anything, because like you said, [current circumstances] kind of put everything just up in the air. But yeah, I'm excited to read scripts and hope that it's something that we'll find a way to make."
In October of last year, It was announced that MGM had pulled Tomb Raider 2 from its March 19, 2021 release date and they didn't indicate any future dates for the film at that point. Around that time, Vikander was asked about the sequel and, given the global pandemic, she believed that she wouldn't get to work on the film until early this year. She did confirm that the original plan was to film the sequel in 2020 but the coronavirus delays put things in limbo:
"The plan was for us to start making one this year, of course, due to the situation, that's now very different. We're still in discussions about it, so I hope we can probably get to it next year."
2018's Tomb Raider was directed by Roar Uthaug and it mostly served as an origin story for Lara Croft, taking inspiration from the most recent series of video games. The film received mixed reviews from critics, scoring a 51% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes but the film did well enough worldwide to warrant a sequel. While the film wasn't a huge hit domestically, the film did earn $274.6 million at the global box office on a $94 million budget. MGM is likely hoping that with a well-liked actress who has an Oscar to her name and a new filmmaker at the helm for the sequel, things can be turned around a bit to make a sequel more profitable than the first film. Misha Green, who is hot coming off showrunning the critically acclaimed Lovecraft Country, is directing the sequel and she took to social media to reveal a potential title called Tomb Raider: Obsidian. Despite that reveal, Green said, "Still a long journey to production. Title's not even approved but first draft finished!"
Do YOU think Tomb Raider 2 will actually hit the big screen?