Alicia Vikander's 'Tomb Raider' release date: Hope for video game films?
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
A release date has been set for the upcoming 鈥淭omb Raider鈥� film starring Alicia Vikander as studios continue to attempt to create the next hit film based on a video game.
鈥淭omb Raider,鈥� which stars Ms. Vikander of 鈥淭he Danish Girl,鈥� for which she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, will be released in the spring of 2018.
The first 鈥淭omb鈥� movie, which starred Angelina Jolie and was titled 鈥淟ara Croft: Tomb Raider鈥� after its heroine, was released in 2001 and became a box office hit. A 2003 sequel, 鈥淟ara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life,鈥� made only about half of what the first movie did domestically.
Warner Bros. hopes this reboot will buck the recent trend of films based on video games struggling with audiences.
Hollywood periodically attempts to bring popular stories from video games to the big screen, and the first 鈥淭omb鈥� movie is the biggest hit to have been released in this genre. Almost all the others have struggled financially at the domestic box office.
Studios haven't given up on the idea that a popular game can turn into a popular film. This year has already included a few new attempts at bringing a world from a video game to the movies. One, this May鈥檚 鈥淭he Angry Birds Movie,鈥� did well at the box office and became the second-highest-grossing video game film adaptation of all time, behind the first 鈥淭omb Raider鈥� movie.聽
Others did poorly, at least domestically. The animated movie 鈥淩atchet & Clank,鈥� which came out this past April, barely registered financially, while 鈥淲arcraft,鈥� the adaptation of the World of Warcraft universe that came out this June, did not fare well domestically at the box office.聽
The story of 鈥淲arcraft鈥� comes with an important caveat, however. While 鈥淲arcraft鈥� didn鈥檛 win over audiences in the US, the film set box office records in China, an interesting twist in the increasingly global movie marketplace. 鈥淲arcraft鈥� did so well in China that it broke records for the best opening for a foreign film.聽
Those who finance video game adaptations will no doubt be watching carefully to see how the latest 鈥淭omb Raider鈥� does when it comes out in 2018, as well as the film adaptation of the game "Assassin鈥檚 Creed,鈥� due out this December.
