Graham King has been a beacon of light in the Hollywood system the last few years. The producer has backed a number of adult-themed entertainment in a genre most of the town is afraid to touch. While working heavily with Martin Scorsese on The Aviator, The Departed, Gangs of New York, and the upcoming Hugo Cabret, he has also been behind The Town and last weekend’s oddity-turned-hit Rango. Yes, he is responsible for the disappointments Edge of Darkness and The Tourist, but we’ll forgive him. Tonight comes the news (via The Wrap) that King, along with producer Tim Headington have acquired reboot rights for the popular Tomb Raider franchise from the interactive entertainment company, Square Enix.
In a statement, King said “we are very excited to be rebooting what is already a hugely successful film franchise and continuing the Tomb Raider phenomenon.” That phenomenon begin in 1996 with the first video game and separately from this planned film, the game series will see a reboot sometime in 2011. The film series, however, started with Angelina Jolie in 2001 and then the follow-up Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life came out in 2003, grossing a cumulative $432 million worldwide.
There has been talk of a Tomb Raider reboot for awhile now, most recently with Olivia Wilde supposedly taking over the role for a “a far darker and more serious” film, certainly matching King’s tone. There was even (crazy) talk of Kim Kardashian stepping in Croft’s shoes. The most concrete news was Dan Lin’s involvement, but that has since passed. This GK Films version would most likely be a “Lara Croft origin story rather [than] have her continue her adventures” and no writer has been hired yet.
As a fan of the videogame, but not the films, I think a King-produced Tomb Raider could work. I’d rather have it be a bit fun though, instead of the supposed “dark and serious” tone. Matched with David O. Russell‘s similarly themed Uncharted, we could have two good videogame adaptations on our hands.
What do you think about a Tomb Raider reboot? Who should star?