When the Tomb Raider video game series got itself the reboot treatment in 2013, it seemed to give MGM and Warner Brothers the necessary kick to look at rebooting the film version of Lara Croft as well. The planned reboot film has a director, but what it doesn’t have is a star to take on the iconic role. However, it sounds like the studio may have seen a certain woman kicking butt in a really big movie recently and found exactly what they were looking for. One of the actresses the studio is looking at is Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Daisy Ridley, according to reports.
According to Deadline, Daisy Ridley is not the only actress currently being considered, and no formal talks have taken place, though there have been "conversations" which means that at least Ridley is aware that she’s being looked at for the part. Producers are reportedly keeping their options wide open at this early stage so it's unlikely that we’ll be hearing about any decisions made for the part anytime soon.
We have to say that the idea of Daisy Ridley as Lara Croft has a certain appeal to it. We know that she can handle the physicality that the role would demand as we saw her do that admirably in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The Tomb Raider director, Roar Uthang, has said that this reboot would make Lara Croft more human and we’ve seen Daisy Ridley able to play both vulnerable and strong in the same role. As an added bonus, she wouldn’t need to fake the accent.
The Lara Croft role was famously played by Angelina Jolie in two previous film installments. Following Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life the film series faded away. The video game series as well as seen a resurgence with a reboot of its own as well as the recent follow up Rise of the Tomb Raider. The recent games have also grounded Lara Croft a little bit more in reality, which has been successful, so seeing the film follow suit is probably a good move.
The toughest part of getting Daisy Ridley on board the new movie would likely be one of scheduling. She went from promoting Star Wars: The Force Awakens almost directly into filming Star Wars: Episode VIII. It’s hard to see where she would find time to make such a big movie until after Episode IX was completed. Still, it may be a very good move for the young actress. Star Wars has a tendency to typecast young actors, so jumping into another potentially large franchise may help prevent that from happening. Harrison Ford filmed Raiders of the Lost Ark in between two Star Wars movies, and he, by far, had the strongest career of the original cast.
Is Daisy Ridley the right choice for the new Lara Croft? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
