While the Tomb Raider video game series has been going strong for more than two decades now, particularly since it was relaunched in 2013, it's been 15 years since the property last graced the big screen. This weekend, Tomb Raider makes its big return to theaters, only instead of Angelina Jolie reprising Lara Croft for a third time, Alicia Vikander is leading a reboot based off the more recent Tomb Raider video games. Reviews for Tomb Raider are now trickling in, but as for its commercial performance, the movie is predicted to open in the United States somewhere between $23 million and $25 million.
This is a decent haul for a movie of this scale, which was made off a $90 million budget. However, it may not be enough to crown Tomb Raider this weekend's box office champion. because according to Deadline, Black Panther is expected around $27 million in its fifth weekend. To say that the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie has been a critical and commercial success would be an understatement, and regarding the latter, it has collected $571 million domestically and crossed the $1 billion mark globally. So while Tomb Raider is on track to carve out a nice chunk of the box office, it will need to exceed expectations if it wants to surpass Black Panther.
Even if Tomb Raider doesn't end up performing exceptionally in the U.S., its foreign performance will hopefully be able to ensure that the movie makes a profit. It has already opened in Asia (with the exception of China) and made over $14 million. Along with Black Panther, Tomb Raider's domestic competition this weekend includes A Wrinkle in Time, which opened last week and is expected to take in around $17 million, as well as smaller opening fare like Love, Simon and I Can Only Imagine, which are projected to make $10 million and between $2 million and $4 million, respectively. However, March's remaining weeks are bringing fellow blockbusters Pacific Rim Uprising and Ready Player One into the proverbial game, so Tomb Raider is certainly going to face an uphill battle the longer it stays in theaters.
Inspired by the 2013 video game reboot, the new Tomb Raider movie follows Alicia Vikander's Lara Croft as she fights for survival on the island where her father disappeared years earlier and works to stop a mysterious organization called Trinity from weaponizing an ancient power. The main cast also includes Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu, Kristin Scott Thomas, Hannah John-Kamen, Antonio Aakeel, Derek Jacobi and Nick Frost.
Tomb Raider opens in theaters this Friday, March 16, and be sure to read CinemaBlend's review of the movie. To learn what else is being released this year, look through our 2018 release schedule.
