MGM has lost the rights to the Tomb Raider franchise, kicking off a massive bidding war for the video game franchise’s film and TV rights that has a ton of companies interested.
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According to a report from TheWrap late last week, MGM had until May to greenlight a sequel to the 2018 Tomb Raider film in an effort to retain the rights to the franchise. They didn’t, which vacated the rights and essentially set off a chain reaction that has led to many of the biggest studios in the world looking to snatch up the rights, although no official names have been mentioned as of yet.
The news of the rights being lost also means that the 2018 film will now officially stand as a solo movie, with no plans for a sequel. Quite the opposite, actually, as TheWrap mentioned that Alicia Vikander is now no longer attached to the Tomb Raider series, and a “complete reboot” for the franchise is likely set to happen once a studio does land the rights to make a film on the IP.
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This news comes just a week after star Alicia Vikander spoke about the possibility of a sequel to 2018’s Tomb Raider, saying how much she would’ve loved to do one. The 2018 film — which starred Vikander and was written by Misha Green (HBO’s Lovecraft Country) — premiered with relative box office success, but received mixed reviews from both fans and critics alike. While Vikander’s turn as Croft was praised by most, some thought the film was bland overall and didn’t do enough to differentiate itself from the 2013 video game it was based on.
