Hollywood is of the opinion that the tombs of the world have gone unraided for too long, and have decided to step back up to the plate of ass-kicking female plunderer films. GK Films have the rights to the video game for the big screen and have started movement towards a 2013 reboot, hiring writing partneres Hawk Otsby and Mark Fergus. They’re a solid duo, responsible for the Children of Men screenplay on the more cerebral action side, and they’re responsible for the screenplay of Iron Man (the not-shitty one) on the more mainstream side.
The company hopes they’ll be able to create a more sustainable franchise that fosters the creation of an iconic female heroin who is known for more than a tight blue shirt stretched over giant digital tits. They’ll do this by telling an “origin story for Lara Croft that solidifies her place alongside Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor in the pantheon of great female action heroes.”
My impression is only from TV snippets I’ve caught since, but Tomb Raider (along with the later Brosnan Bond films) has always felt like one of those weird early-00s movies that was made with a lot of latent 90s action sensibilities and felt a little out of place in a post-Matrix world. Not a hypothesis I’ve really explored, but that’s how the silly action sequences and stunts have always registered to me from afar.
There’s no word yet on a director or what kind of tone they want the film to strike, but I imagine it will be much more grounded and serious than its predecessor.
Nobody I know has been clamoring for a return of Lara Croft, but it is an opportunity for a female-driven franchise, and there’s nothing inherently shitty about someone bounding about through caves and ruins in search of interesting items. This is one of those that’s all in the approach, and if these screenwriters bring something special to it, then maybe there’s value here. Not holding my breath though. For example, casting Megan Fox would be an immediate sign that needs to be tossed this whole thing into the ocean.
There has been a break of new interesting actresses lately though, and one wonders if this might be a good chance for solid franchise for one of them. Anyone you would enjoy adventuring about more than Jolie? Maybe a Jenny Lawrence or a Saoirse Ronan? Olivia Wilde will probably be on the top of the list. Some of these names would perk my interest for sure.
Source | THR
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