The ‘Tomb Raider’ reboot was originally intended to be filmed in Australia but skipped out on the prospect and moved to South Africa instead.
She is taking on the role made famous by Angelina Jolie in the 2001 action film series Tomb Raider.
And Alicia Vikander is already proving herself to be an impressive Lara Croft, judging by the first pictures of the Swedish actress on the set of the rebooted version of the film.
The film, which is currently filming in South Africa, is influenced by Square Enix’s 2013 reboot of the game and its 2015 sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider. Director Roar Uthaug told GQ that he wanted to explore the origin story told in those games and, more importantly, the human side of Croft’s character. Uthaug said he didn’t want Croft to be seen as a superhero, like she has in the past, but rather a human being with extraordinary physical abilities.
“This movie will introduce Lara as a young woman who hasn’t yet found her way and her place in the world; a young woman with great spirit and potential,” Uthaug said. “We follow her struggles and her journey toward becoming the person she was meant to be and earning the role of Tomb Raider.”
Not much else is known about the plot at this time, but The Wire’s Dominic West has signed on to play Croft’s father, Lord Richard Croft. Into the Badlands’ Daniel Wu will play a character named Lu Ren, while The Hateful Eight’s Walton Goggins takes on the role of Father Mathias Vogel.
The movie is scheduled to premiere in U.S. theaters on March 16, 2018.