'Tomb Raider 2': Misha Green to Direct and Write, Alicia Vikander to Return as Lara Croft

The next Tomb Raider movie has found a director. Misha Green, who won critical acclaim for [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

The next Tomb Raider movie has found a director. Misha Green, who won critical acclaim for creating and directing HBO's Lovecraft Country, will make her feature debut with the sequel to Alicia Vikander's Tomb Raider. The Oscar-winning Vikander played Lara Croft in the 2018 movie, which rebooted a franchise that had been dormant since Angelina Jolie played the video game character in the early 2000s.

Green will also write the new film, reports Deadline. She serves as the showrunner and executive producer on Lovecraft Country, which is based on Matt Ruff's book that explores H.P. Lovecraft's horror stories through the eyes of a Black man in the Jim Crow South. Jonathan Major stars in the series as Addicus Freeman, alongside Jurnee Smollett, Michael K. Williams, Abbey Lee, Jamie Chung, and Courtney B. Vance. Green also co-created and wrote WGN's Underground, a series about the Underground Railroad. She is also producing The Mother for Netflix and Cleopatra Jones for Warner Bros.

As for Tomb Raider, it will be produced by Graham King under his GK Films banner and The Cantillon Company's Elizabeth Cantillon. MGM will release the new film through a joint venture with United Artists Releasing. MGM also produced the first film, which was distributed by Warner Bros. The 2018 film grossed about $275 million worldwide and was directed by Roar Uthaug. It received mixed reviews from critics. Jolie was the first actress to play Croft, starring in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003). There were plans to make a third film with Jolie, but she declined to play the part again.

Green's hiring came a few months after Vikander confirmed plans to shoot Tomb Raider 2 this year. While on Good Morning America in October to promote Amazon's The Glorias, Vikander said plans were put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. "The plan was for us to start making one this year, of course, due to the [pandemic] situation, that's now very different," Vikander explained. "We're still in discussions about it, so I hope we can probably get to it next year."

At one point the sequel was set to hit theaters in March 2021. Back in September 2019, Entertainment Weekly reported that Ben Wheatley (Free fire) was set to direct the sequel. Wheatley moved on to other projects though, including Netflix's Rebecca, which was released in October.

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