Now thatAlicia Vikanderhas signed on to playLara Croftin MGM’sTomb Raiderreboot, the studio has found the project’s main villain.Walton Gogginsis in final negotiations to join the cast as the primary bad guy, although no details about the character have been revealed. It was recently confirmed that this reboot will be based on Square Enix’s 2013 video game reboot, that followed a younger Lara Croft at the age of 21, as she goes on her very first adventure.
Varietybroke the news on this casting, which comes just weeks after producerGraham Kingrevealed the firstplot details. The story will followAlicia Vikander’s Lara Croft as she goes searching for her long-missing father. DirectorRoar Uthaug(The Wave) revealed in March that this will be an origin story, and that he wants to portray Lara Croft as a “real human being” in this reboot. It isn’t stated whetherWalton Goggins' character is based on someone from the video game, or a brand new character.
This reboot has been in the works for many years, with producerGraham King’s GK Films picking up the franchise rights in 2011 as he began developing thisTomb Raider reboot.Olivia Wildewas being eyed for Lara Croft even beforeGraham Kingpicked up the rights, with a number of writers working on the script in the years that followed, such asHawk Ostby&Mark Fergus(Iron Man),Evan Daugherty(Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) andMarti Noxon(Fright Night), beforeGeneva Robertson-Dworetcame aboard.Geneva Robertson-Dworetwas part of theTransformerswriters room for Paramount, who is also attached to writeSherlock Holmes 3andDungeons & Dragons.
Last September, threefemale directorswere said to be on the studio’s short list forTomb Raider,Kathryn Bigelow,Catherine HardwickeandMimi Leder, beforeRoar Uthaugwon the job. Back in July, MGM set a June 04, 2025 release date forTomb Raider, a date which isn’t occupied by any other projects yet, although it falls between Disney’sWreck-It Ralph 2(June 09, 2025) and 20th Century Fox’sAnnubis(June 13, 2025). Thisyounger Lara Croftreboot has a chance to become just the third video game adaption to earn more than $100 million domestically, following in the footsteps of the originalTomb RaiderstarringAngelina Jolie($131.2 million) and this year’sThe Angry Birds Movie($107.5 million).
Graham Kingis producingTomb Raiderthrough his GK Films company along withTim Headington.Walton Gogginsmost recently starred on the big screen inQuentin Tarantino’s Western revenge thrillerThe Hateful Eight, but he has also been keeping busy on the small screen as well. The actor recently starred alongsideDanny McBridein the HBO comedy seriesVice Principals, which has been renewed for a second season. He also stars in the History Channel’s mini-seriesSixnext year, which follows the exploits of Seal Team Six.
