In a massive blowout of animated news, Netflix announced a brand new animated Tomb Raider series. It is set to be produced by Legendary, also known for the MonsterVerse franchise, and Crystal Dynamics, developers of most games in the franchise since 2006.
The series was first announced in 2021, though not much info has been added since then. Voicing Lara Croft will be Hayley Atwell, best known for her role as Agent Peggy Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Netflix showed off a teaser for the series, which exhibits Lara Croft performing a series of exciting moves, including readying a bow and arrow, investigating art on a wall, staring at odd magic wings, and more.
Not much was shown in this teaser aside from this sizzle reel of footage, though it is set to release in 2024.
Tomb Raider Returns to Film
This is far from the first time the beloved graming franchise has been adapted outside of the video game medium. This was first done back in 2001 with Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, starring Angelina Jolie in the titular role. This was followed by a sequel, The Cradle of Life, in 2003.
Neither film was particularly well received by critics, boasting scores of 20% and 24% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively, although Jolie’s portrayal of the character garnered praise.
While the first entry made a respectable $274.7 million at the box office, the sequel failed to live up to these heights, with a $156 million return.
After Jolie elected not to return for a third film, the franchise went on ice in the film sphere until 2018, with the release of Tomb Raider, starring Alicia Vikander. Oddly enough, that film also grossed $274.7 million at the box office, though it lost money as it needed $275 million to break even.
A sequel was eventually canceled. The new animated series will be set after the events of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which was developed by Eidos Montreal and concluded the reboot trilogy, the first two games of which had been developed by Crystal Dynamics.
It has been stated that Crystal Dynamics wishes to bridge the divide between the original series of games and its reboot trilogy, and this new series will supposedly be part of that bridge. The next game in the franchise will utilize Unreal Engine 5.
Also read: Hayley Atwell Breaks PlayStation Fans’ Hearts as She Reveals She’s a Huge Gamer
Amazon Games is set to publish the next Tomb Raider game, which aims to include elements across all games across the franchise’s history and bring them all together as one unified timeline.
Until then, players can look forward to remasters of the original trilogy, set to be released next February for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Are you excited to watch this series? How do you feel about the casting of Hayley Atwell? Do you think she is the right choice for the role, or do you prefer one of the past actors in the role? Let us know in the comments and on our social media feeds!
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