A big-screen reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise has been in the works for years now, but with the video-game series that inspired it now seemingly back on sure footing after a highly successful 2013 reboot, the movie seems to be gaining some momentum once again, too. A recent report indicates that the project has not only hired a writer, but is also being fast-tracked to production.
Deadline reports Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Snow White and the Huntsman screenwriter, Evan Daugherty, was hired to provide the first draft of a script that will reboot the adventures of famous treasure hunter, Lara Croft. The outlet reports that part of the deal that gives studios Warner Bros. and MGM the rights to make the film also includes language aimed at ensuring the film happens sooner rather than later and doesn’t fall into development limbo.
While most video-game movies have failed to see great success on the silver screen, the Tomb Raider franchise has been one of the few exceptions. Both the 2001 film Tomb Raider and its 2003 sequel, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, starred Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft and together earned more than $432 million worldwide.
Little is know about the studios’ directives for Daugherty and the Tomb Raider reboot, but if the film aims to follow the storyline of the 2013 reboot of the game franchise, it will likely focus on a young Lara Croft in one of her earliest adventures. A sequel to the 2013 game titled Rise of the Tomb Raider is expected to hit shelves later this year.